Yesterday, on the Queen's birthday, I attended choral evensong at Westminster Abbey, the first time I have ever done so. It was one of those hours when there was an unusual confluence of things I love. I love the architecture of the English cathedrals, so just walking in was a joy. They guided service goers down the north aisle, where Herbert Howells's ashes are buried, near the graves of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles V. Stanford and other composers. There was only a moment to honor the spot before the queue moving forward pushed me along with it, in a stream leading to the choir stalls around the choir.
It is interesting that the service sung was the glorious Stanford in C -- he was one of Howells's teachers at the Royal College of Music. So that sense of being quite literally immersed, not only in a place of extraordinary history and majesty, but in the specific musical river that is so dear to me, was overwhelming. It's like you sit there with the happiest glow in your face, quite unable to believe it.
Yes, this is my element. Leaving it for any period of time, as I will early next week, has been hard in the past. But as I've said, I think I will have a better ability after this trip to bring these peak moments with me, and use them to empower a happier and more settled future. Focusing on confluence, love, happiness and joy -- wherever I am -- can only bring more such moments in life. I feel extraordinarily privileged to have experienced as many of them in the last few weeks as I have!
