The team that left two weeks ago for Nepal as ambassadors for AOMUSIC are back home.

Karan to India,

Josh to the Caves of Maratika to meditate,

Rob to Asheville, North Carolina,

and Jessie is driving across country bringing in excess of 25 hours of footage to Seattle to be edited,

while Richard works post production with the recordings of the children of Nepal.

I was like a mother hen for those weeks.  Pacing with excitement, hearing every day of the amazing adventures and the light that surrounded this team every step of the way. Marveling at the surprise turns that led them back to Kathmandu, recording with Rock star Robin Tamang, singing with street children and a group from an orphanage, culminating in the team climbing high to the Himalayas to record their final interviews at sunrise.

And interestingly enough once all planes had touched ground and I was on my way to going with Jessie to Seattle for production of the film, I flew to Denver and suddenly had emergency surgery for acute appendicitis. So, I have much to think about and consider as this next phase of a dream unfolds and I am flat on my back being lovingly tended by my friend Kathleen who is a steller acupuncturist, while Jessie drives alone through the salt flats of Utah on her way to meet our editor in Ballard, Washington.

When life is stopped on a dime as it was for me twice these last two months, I am paying deep attention to what the Universe is telling the Gypsy in me, at exactly the one year point in my nomadic journey.  I imagine it is to stop…moving.

So, I am sitting with this possible message from the Universe and will write on what I am clear on…. when it becomes clear.  But today I received this final journal entry from one of our team members that wraps up following this magical and powerful journey five young people took to Nepal for AOMUSIC. Thank you all for your emails, your love and support.

Next Stop in this story.  Seattle, LA and …maybe home…wherever that may be.

In Conclusion Rob Lenfestey writes:

“I have arrived back in the states after another long series of flights.  This one at least included a four-hour layover in London which I maximized by taking the express train downtown and running for hours, seeing the sights and taking in England for the first time.  All in all, I am amazed that our trip was as short as it was.  It seems that in 10 days in Nepal we were able to cram so much experience in that we stretched every second into lifetimes.  It seems these were filled with a depth of experience that was beautiful and extensive!

When I listen to the music from AOmusic’s last album I continue to receive chills and even tears sometimes.  The heart and inspiration pouring from this music speaks of wonder and imagination, speaks of unity and hope, realized.  To capture this essence musically and share it with the world is one of my deepest intentions and so this opportunity to work with this team to create this music is a cause for celebration.  This is the essence of my feeling listening to it now, after having gone through this whole adventure.

I connected with this amazing team; with children from English boarding schools, orphanages and the streets; I experienced the freshest Himalayan air carried on the winds of a dying monsoon, and I experienced the suffocated dust and grime that penetrates your sinuses in the streets of Kathmandu.  I witnessed rhinoceros in the wild, massive and beautiful among the tall grasses and played with yoga asana on the back of an elephant.  I also saw the same elephants chained tightly where they live.

Elsewhere I witnessed the last painful breaths of a street dog that none else seemed to care about.  No matter the extremes, Nepal kept me fully engaged.  And somehow the sense of wonder through all of it remained.  Remained, by channeling the innocence and imagination of the children; seeing the world with eyes that have not condemned these experiences to a hardened perception of how things should be.  I came to Nepal with this in my heart; that the qualities of AOMUSIC that inspire my imagination be the very breath of my experience.  And so it was.

It is my hope that all media created from the fruits of this journey reflect that inspiration and serve to nurture its growth and vitality.  This seed is also planted into all future endeavors with AOMUSIC.