Subject: A JV reflects on connecting through drumming
From: "Alyssa Ross" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:14:20 -0400 (EDT)

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Today's JV Reflects

July 2011

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<a id="etapDataTag" name="" class="etapDataTag" title="category=category.commonFields|field=entity.shortSalutation|name=Short Salutation">Short Salutation</a>, 
Drums have primordial origins that span across millenia. Since the dawn of human civilization, people have used them for ceremonies, celebrations, and gatherings.
 
This month's Jesuit Volunteer connects with her clients in the very ancient practice of drumming together.

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The Drum Circle

Brenna Davis, a JV in Cleveland

We all have a beat that is distinctly our own, like a fingerprint. Each person's heart drums out its unique song, but oftentimes we never notice this quiet symphony happening around and within us. I was guilty of it before participating in the drum circle at the West Side Catholic Center, which provides services to people experiencing homelessness on the West Side of Cleveland.
 
The chaotic drop-in center is transformed into a sacred space. Staff, clients, and volunteers mingle in the blue plastic chairs arranged in a circle. Everyone has an instrument, be it a drum or an extraneous item from the kitchen.
 
We go around the circle and everyone strikes their instruments once. Like the people gathered together, each beat makes a unique sound. We take time to revere and listen to them. We enter the circle with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that make our own voices unique.
 
Together, we bring each other to a place that's greater than we could ever achieve alone. My empty coffee tin and drumstick aren't impressive, but when combined with others, the hollow and metallic music is a welcomed accent to the rich and smooth sound of the drums all around.
 
The leader of the circle starts with a simple beat and we all mimic his motions in a voiceless call-and-response. We play in unison, but each person modifies the sentence until we share the beat we feel inside, one that is distinctively our own. 
 
We all have our own rhythms to bring to the circle, but the underlying beat from when we started is ever present and keeps us tied to one another.
 
One. Two. Three.
 
One. Two. Three.
 
The rhythm fills me as I close my eyes and sway. I hear another drummer and I realize my pattern changed in response.
 
One. Two and three.
 
One and two and three.
 
I let the unknown drummer in. Our beats intertwine in a dance, an ebb and flow that binds us to one another. I focus on a different beat and the process starts again.
 
This is the rhythm of life: an initial encounter, time shared together, and parting with the knowledge that we have been changed.    
 
We drum for awhile, blissfully unaware of time. When the group feels the song has run its course, we start to wind down. We play slower and slower until we end together on the final beat.
 
One... Two... Three...
 
One.

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