Love Shines CD Project Update

Thanks to so many that came out to the 3 concerts of the Fraser Valley. I have been very encouraged to go ahead with the Love Shines CD project and recording dates have now been set for January 2011 - with release happening probably in March 2011.

It has been a fall of taking risks and not knowing where that will lead me. At times I have been terrified to take another step and to put myself out there with sharing my vision and my heart. However, there is something life-giving with taking risks and learning to be OK whatever the results. I've learned a lot from this process!

I've also learned that I deeply value the community around me. I've realized that this project is coming out of a community of support and friendship - not just an isolated dream. This is a powerful shift for me and one that energizes me as I step into the next part of the process of going into the recording studio.

Thanks to so many that have given financially to this project. I am about half-way there with the funds I will need. If you would like to be a part of this, please go to

Love Shines CD Project

This Saturday - November 13, 2010

7:30 pm

Love Shines Concert & Dessert Evening

ALL ARE WELCOME!!!

Free event - with opportunity to donate to the Love Shines CD project

I will be joined by...

Boris Sichon (world percussionist - amazing musician!!!)

Kevin Boese (amazing singer/songwriter & guitarist)

Jonathan VanDyke (amazing vocalist and pianist)

Joleen VanDyke (also amazing vocalist and pianist)

We have a great set ready to share with you - and the passion to share songs of hope, inspiration & healing.

Please come & share this wonderful evening together with us! We want a PACKED house!!

RSVP kateajhardy@shaw.ca

Venue: Highland Community Church

3130 McMillan Road, Abbotsford, BC V2S 6A8

3 upcoming concerts

3 evenings of sharing my heart in song - songs of hope for the Love Shines CD

YOU ARE INVITED!!

October 30 in Chilliwack with Kevin Boese

home of Walt & Elsie Goerzen 46400 Stevenson Rd Please RSVP 604-858-9679

November 6th in Mission with Boris Sichon & Kevin Boese

Heritage High School - Drama Studio -7:30pm

November 13th in Abbotsford with Kevin Boese - Cale Stanage opening

Highland Community Church 7:30pm

for more info: please e-mail me at:

kateajhardy@shaw.ca

Love Shines CD Project

Your partnership in songs of hope
to be released Spring 2011

...a musical venture with the passion to bring hope, healing, and inspiration

I have an opportunity to record songs of Hope, Healing and Inspiration in January of 2011.

I am so excited to share these songs with the community, but I know that I need the support of the greater community to help make this dream a reality.

This album will be filled with original songs that have come out of the stories of life these past 2-5 years. They are unique songs that connect with our souls and our journey; big and gentle sounds coming out of deep joys as well as deep sorrows. They are sounds that call us to live with authenticity, trust, and hope. They also invite us to taste of Love shining even in our darkest moments.

These are songs I want to share with as many people as I can. We all need songs to sing in our darkest hours that call us into deeper truths and freedom. These are songs that have come to me like gifts and have powerfully touched my own life and I want to share them with the world.

if you would like to partner with me in this project- go to:

LOVE SHINES CD PROJECT

Listen to Love Shines Single

Gratefulness

Life is full of twists and turns these days. Our family is still reeling from the loss of my nephew Christian, who died in March of 2010. Going through summer holidays without him around for certain events was painful for us all.

This summer brought to our attention that my dad is suddenly dealing with colon cancer and my mom's leukemia is also very present. Dad had to have two unexpected surgeries in this past week and mom is at the doctor's today about her leukemia. Then my sister-in-law Ilona found out this past spring she has serious breast cancer and has been undergoing treatments all summer and is also facing surgery.

How to respond to ALL of this at once is simply overwhelming on many days....but this photo hopefully reflects my response. Here I am with my nephew Graham, son of Ilona. He is 10 and was over to hang out with me one day this summer. We had fun and enjoyed being together.

To be present to the people around me, to be grateful for the beauty that is here even in the midst of suffering, to offer the gift of kindness and simple expressions of love.....this is what is important. And then - to be GRATEFUL in this moment for what is right now.

the labyrinth





the symbolic walk of choice & letting go

Life is funny sometimes. You have these moments of utter clarity about the next step. And so you make a choice to make that step and then suddenly it seems you are going backwards and wondering what just happened. It seems that life is full of choices, taking risks, moving forward into the unknown - a sign of personal freedom to affect the outcome of one's life.....choice. And then there is this flip side - how things just seem to happen and you find yourself belly up - or face in the dirt. How did that happen? It seems that there are situations completely beyond one's control - and that one has a choice in that moment too - to accept the reality or to fight it.
When I walk the labyrinth, I remember all these things - my choices as well as the circumstances in my life I have no control over. The labyrinth seems so symbolic of stepping forward yet at the same time experiencing going backwards while still moving towards the centre. It is an interesting experience to walk in 20 minutes what can be so symbolic of life itself.
It seems like a journey of trust - trusting to take risks and also trusting in the moments of surrender to what is beyond me.

If you get a chance - walk the labyrinth.......I'd love to hear how your expereince is!

Love Shines.AVI

Brother Roger has become a spiritual guide in my life.

I recently discovered these video postings that are now being made public. Have a watch

http://www.taize.fr/en_article10037.html

Maybe Brother Roger will inspire you also....... I love this man!!

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it stop me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do" Georgia O'Keefe

So, now that you know how I feel :-),

I am inviting you all to the

Love Shines Concert -

Cathy AJ Hardy & Friends

on June 26, 2010

8pm

St. Andrew's United Church in Mission

I am excited to partner with some great musicians to share with you the songs that mean so much to me! Boris Sichon is a world percussionist who plays all sorts of instruments from around the world. Kevin Boese is a fantastic acoustic guitarist and songwriter....and there are others too who will join me.

This evening will be a collection of my own compositions and other songs that mean a lot to me.

There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door.

Look forward to seeing you!

Taize Evening Prayers at Westminster Abbey, Mission
Saturday, May 29, 2010 8pm-9pm

Why come?
This hour is filled with song, prayer, silence and open space.
This hour is for you to drink in beauty, rest and soul-food.
The songs from Taize are like simple phrases, that when repeated a few times, become something a person can meditate on.
For example, the Latin phrase will be sung: Da pacem cordium
This means.....Give peace to every heart.
To sing this together is prayer....
We all hold the stories of our lives; joy, pain, thankfulness and sadness...
We all long for peace of heart and peace of heart for those we love and peace of heart for all humanity. In singing this simple phrase together, we pray together something powerful.
In the words of Richard Rohr; prayer is not seen as telling God what to do but "to experience our dependence on the great mystery".
Acoustic instruments such as harp, guitar, recorder & violin will be played during the service.
I will also be using a new singing bowl (new to me that is) that is over 100 years old.

Love SHINES was recorded a few days after the tragic and sudden passing of my nephew Chris Friesen. I have dedicated this song especially to his parents, Randy & Ingrid Friesen. I saw love SHINING in them so powerfully in the days that followed Chris's death. I saw love being the bigger story than the story of tragedy.
Even though this song was really hard to record in that moment, it became a way to express the reality I was experiencing in that moment. I am dedicating the funds from the sales of this single to the Christian Friesen Memorial Scholarship Fund . Please buy this song and pass it on to others!!! It is a song about hope and Love shining - even in our darkness.

LOVE SHINES available here.