July 11, 2017 – Hong Kong – World Harp Congress

This may look like a simple photo of a mother, a daughter and a harp — but what I see is a new generation of dreaming.

Last week I was in Hong Kong at the World Harp Congress.  After a lunchtime harp jam, this “DHC” electric harp was left near the stage.  A little girl ran up to it, posed beside it and I saw her mother taking a photo.

This is the harp this little girl dreams of playing some day.

It’s the harp that I dreamed of, too.  

This is the harp I saw in my mind’s eye more nearly 30 years ago as I sat on a cold New England porch on New Year’s Eve and imagined the future I wanted with the harp.  There was no harp like this.  I played a 6-foot-tall, 75-pound concert harp — and I knew I couldn’t have the future I wanted with it.

I wanted to travel. I wanted to write for symphonies – big, rhapsodic, rhythmic. I wanted to create one-woman shows.  I needed mobility, flexibility, power – and an instrument I could physically become one with, easily put in a taxi, check as airplane luggage, travel around the world with.

I dreamed of a harp like this.

In the decades after that New Year’s Eve, I collaborated with the CAMAC harp company to bring that harp to life – my dream – their commitment to helping me achieve that dream –  and it’s the harp that’s named after me, the “DHC.”

So when I saw this little girl taking her picture beside it, I saw in a flash – my dream come true … and hers just beginning.

That's when I saw my dream come true... and hers just beginning. Click To Tweet

More and more I’m struck by this: that as we achieve our dreams, and share them, we open a door to someone else’s dream. We hand the baton of creative expression to waiting hands.  Hands that are waiting for us. Hands that will take that dream further. Maybe further than we even imagined.

The baton of creative expression – handed from dream to dream.

And if we’re very lucky … we get to see it happen.

The baton of creative expression - handed from dream to dream. Click To Tweet

 

Join for Freebies, Stories & News

Join for Freebies, Stories & News

Join to get weekly-ish emails with stories, videos & events like concerts & classes

Yay! You should get my next newsletter within the next 7-10 days. I'm so happy we'll be in touch!

"5-DAY Harp IMPROV Challenge" 

A FREE Training 
from  Deborah Henson-Conant

 

Learn the First Step of Freedom: Free Yourself from Reading the Notes on the Page.  Register here to join the challenge

Woohoo! You'r Registered for the 2022 "5-Day Harp Improv" Challenge!