Needled and pierced

What's wrong with this woman? Let me rephrase that. What's right with her? She's obviously still mobile, but she doesn't get around much anymore. She can still smile and exude a few good vibes, sing a few notes when in the mood. Do you now see those acupuncture needles protruding from her left ear? Lory Paredes placed them there, left them in crucial spots that stand for the kidney, liver, lungs. These needles open the spirit gate. They release, or more or less ease, blockages to allow the chi to flow. The kidney is where fears are stored; the liver, anger; and the lungs, the sense of loss, the grieving that can make it hard for singers to sing (or writers to write but that's just this woman's Doctor Quack Quack side).

What make the aches, although they're just dull, throbbing aches, of the aging person tolerable are friends of friends who share one's wavelength and offer help without prying into the details of one's personal life (or health). Here is Gou de Jesus's pal, singer-songwriter Skarlet (left, kissing a pleased 59-year-old woman so looking forward to turning 60 so she can avail, finally, of senior citizen discounts). Skarlet is the main woman working behind the scenes of Yakap Musikero and similar projects that look after the health and general well-being of freelance musicians. The needled woman asked if she could be adopted as a fading soprano. She'll write about Skarlet y compania in some other forum beyond this blog. All together now, let's rise to sing "Good Vibrations." Photos taken at the Unilab Mandaluyong hall by Ernesto V. Enrique, also known as Tats to his students