Lyrics & Story Behind Song #6: “Circle Song”
“We are a circle now. We are a circle now. We are a circle now—made new…made new.”
Throughout fall and spring of 2018, the community at Faith in Wellness Retreat Center began holding monthly classes. These were all-day events that included an organic, vegetarian lunch, plus plenty of opportunities to refresh our “conscious awareness” tools. During the course of six hours, there were individual coachings, journaling exercises, and other activities designed to support playing together in conscious “upgrades”.
By this time, I had already shared with the community several of the songs I’d written earlier in the year during retreats. Coach Faith Bost knew one of my creative passions was singing and sharing music with people. At the end of one monthly class in March, we were standing in a circle, closing with a group hug. Faith turned to me and asked if I’d like to lead a song. Time stopped for me in that moment. I ran through a mental checklist of all the songs I knew. Despite everything I’d written and all I’d sung, nothing came to mind that seemed appropriate. My heart desperately wished I could say, “Yes!” After a long pause, I could only say, “No”.
Hours later, I was still feeling sad about that missed opportunity to do what I loved. I texted Faith, thanking her for asking me, and letting her know “If I ever got that opportunity again” I chose to be ready. I was determined, before the next monthly class, to either write a song or find one that would work for our closing circle.
I realized later, sending that text was an act of faith. I wasn’t in the habit of “asking in” for a particular song. I didn’t even know if I could write a song “on demand”. In my usual creative process, lyrics and melodies arose spontaneously. Emotionally powerful experiences would spark something deep inside me. Over time, the seed of a song would sprout and push up to the surface. Like welcoming a birthing, I’d mid-wife the emerging lyrics and tune, allowing them to bubble up, morph, and settle into a finished song.
With nothing to lose, that night I “asked in” for a song appropriate to closing our monthly circle. I spent a long time reflected on what that might look like. I knew it required heart. I knew it required a sense of community. I also envisioned it “summarizing” some of the principles and tools we were learning in class.
Picture this scene. Typically, most people walked into our monthly classes as strangers. Though they sat in a physical circle, each came in with their own agenda. Something in them pulled them to show up. Often they didn’t even consciously know what that was. Similarly, those of us who had been together in classes before, kept coming back. It didn’t matter if we had heard the same topic discussed again and again. We came back each month with “beginner’s mind”. We came in willing to see everything new, trusting there was always “more” available. Over the next few hours, everyone settled into the class experience. Our minds cleared. We got present. We repeated commitments and voted each other’s victories. During coaching, we shared intimate memories and witnessed each other touching deep feeling. Each person was invited to be as authentic as they felt safe to be. Each person’s story inspired everyone else. As individual’s “shifted”, we all felt the energy in the room change and were changed by it. By the time we shared lunch, we had usually established deep bonds of trust. By the end of an all-day class, what had begun as a physical circle of strangers typically felt more like a family. By that time, we were not only sitting in a circle, we WERE a circle. We had formed energetic connections as a community. We typically left monthly classes more aware, more conscious, more sovereign and more connected. We left more present with ourselves and each other than when we had walked in. I was looking for a song that could express some of that.
The song “We Are A Circle Now” came together over several days. It represents the tool of COMMUNITY for me. In community we learn how connecting real love can be and how “big” we truly are. As we interact in community, we see ourselves reflected in others. We discover we lift each other as we lift ourselves. We explore our greatest weaknesses and transform them into our greatest strengths, inspiring each other in the process. No one can do this work for anyone else. Evolving yourself is always an “inside” job. Yet, when we each do our work in community, extra magic happens. We feel the energy of shared courage and compassion. Individual movements become group movements. What benefits one, benefits all. We call each other forward as we call ourselves forward to be our best selves. If you think you can raise your consciousness in isolation, you’re kidding yourself. This is true because, at some point, fully restoring love in me or in you requires remembering our deep connection with all of life. Fully embodying the love we are requires collapsing any illusion of separation. We align with a truth larger than any individual “little self”. Conscious evolution is ever-expanding and also all-inclusive. That connectedness is at the heart of true community. The joy and power of that awareness brings life full circle.
LYRICS: Circle Song
Chorus: We are a circle now. We are a circle now. We are a circle now. Made new. Made new.
Verse 1: Join the circle; (Repeat) Share a song. (Repeat)
Within the circle-- (Repeat) Safe and strong. (Repeat)
Greatest weakness (Repeat) Be transformed. (Repeat)
Greatest power (Repeat) Be reborn. (Repeat)
Chorus: We are a circle now. We are a circle now. We are a circle now. Made new. Made new.
Verse 2: Ask permission; (Repeat) See perfection. (Repeat)
Full commitment; (Repeat) Self-expression. (Repeat)
I have, I feel, I am. (Repeat) I will, I choose, I can. (Repeat)
I love, I stay, I know, I see. (Repeat)
I stand with you; I stand with me. (Repeat)
Chorus: We are a circle now. We are a circle now. We are a circle now.
Made new. Made new. Made new.
© 2019 Ann S. Bugh