Je Veux Vivre – track 10 from my album Songs From Our Balcony is from the Opera Romeo and Juliet, adapted from Shakespeare’s play of the same name. I enjoyed having the opportunity of performing the role of Juliet for Arcadian Opera and recording this track brought fond memories.
Whilst researching ‘Je Veux Vivre’ for my blog post today it got me to question how Easter was celebrated in Shakespeare’s time. Normally I would celebrate with family and friends but as we are still unable to mix socially, I was restricted to early morning facetime calls. I then spent a little time painting eggs and a lot of time reflecting on the past year.
I read that Easter celebrations during the Elizabethan Era shared many similarities to those of today. Many would attend church to participate in religious celebrations and return home to share abundant feasts with family. By the time Easter arrived, many were excited to celebrate because they had been fasting for the 40 days of Lent which preceded it.
Almost everyone in England in Shakespeare’s day was Christian. Most people would attend church. During my research, I read that many people would wear new clothes on Easter Sunday to celebrate the spiritual rebirth and new beginnings. This tradition can be traced back to the Roman Emperor Constantine who released a decree that required his court to wear their most luxurious clothing on Easter Sunday. However, a popular superstition began circulating in response, that wearing new clothes before Easter Sunday would bring you bad luck. which Shakespeare alludes to in Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio asks Benvolio “Didst though not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter.”
I must admit that for me looking to the future is what motivates me and keeps me sane. There is so much good within humanity that I often wonder why the media has to focus so much time and attention on the negative things that happen in the world. Far better to celebrate all the acts of kindness and generosity that are all around us each and every day. I for one am grateful to all the people who have reached out to me over the past twelve months offering, support, guidance, humour, and friendship. This pandemic and its restrictions would have been so much harder without you all, Thank You 😊
Happy Easter to you and George, Charlotte. May I say that the top photo, focussing on your sunny smile, is absolutely gorgeous? The road ahead is still rocky, rates are starting to rise again in Europe, and I am practicing caution at every turn and will be for a long time yet, but I hope the breaks go your way and you can share real time with your family as soon as it is safe to do so.
I met up with my brother Matt outside and he took the photos, he’ll wish he hadn’t started now I know he’s quite good 😂. It has been too long since I’ve seen my parents and grandparents, we FaceTime a lot and Dad has started to put me on the tv via apple screen mirroring so it’s like I’m in the room. I’m pleased my parents have had their first jabs now because they work in an office with others, have you been offered yours yet? I’ve been really working hard practicing singing every day lets hope we can get back to normal.
All my best this Easter
Charlotte
I had my first jab a couple of months ago. I’ve now been texted to book my second but I don’t have a smartphone to use the link I’ve been sent and it’s Easter weekend so I can’t ring the surgery as I had to do for the first one until Tuesday.
Oh heck, at least your surgery are taking calls my grandparents were told they couldn’t phone the surgery to find out about their second jab and I’m sure they should have had it by now. Good luck getting an early appointment on Tuesday, if I can help booking on my smartphone for you send me an e-mail x.
Happy Easter. Hope you are having a beautiful day.
Thank you Jovina, I have had a lovely day I’ll tell you in next weeks blog post of my latest food experiment.
Happy Easter best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Easter, Charlotte.and George.Stay well and safe.
Thank you John, we’re good, George is practicing for a competition so he’s burning the midnight oil with his headphones on most nights at the moment. He’s prepared so much for cancelled competitions he could get despondent but luckily he is very philosophical. I am missing my friends, family and just popping to the shops but I’m using work, learning more cooking recipes in online group cooking classes where we eat together online afterwards (I’ve actually quite enjoyed it and now have two vegetarian meals I know how to cook that I didn’t before) in order to fill the time so that’s a good thing, In the evenings I’ve been doing online group German classes and online group Pilates classes with a fabulous teacher so its keeping me sane lol.
Best wishes
Charlotte
It sounds like you are doing all you can to cope with the situation. Here’s hoping it will be over by summer’s end. The ony positive thing about COVID that I can think of is we all have shared in the same experience. A very unusual circumstance for this world we live in. Stiff upper lip. 😁
Yes I agree John, I’ve just been reading GP’s latest blog post about a musician drafted in the war and it certainly brings everything into perspective. It’s not even comparable to that.
That was a good post too.
What a beautifully positive and uplifting post! Thank you!! Hope you are both well – Happy Easter! 🙂
Oh good, thank you for reading and your lovely message. Yes we are both well, George is very busy right now so I’ve signed up for lots of online evening projects so that I can just leave him to his practice.
Best wishes
Charlotte
You are most welcome! Glad to hear that you are both keeping well! Enjoy the long weekend! 🙂
Thanks to your sunny energy, this world is a much better place! Happy Easter to you and George. May miles of smiles spread faster than doom and gloom – 🙂
Thank you Annette, i’ve had such an energetic week, I hope you had a lovely Easter holiday.
Best wishes
Charlotte 🤗
Happy Easter to you and George,
I hope you have had a lovely day ,great photos, well done to Matt.
Good luck to George for his competition xxx
Congratulations on becoming a Great Nana fabulously exciting.
All my best wishes
Charlotte x
Happy Easter, Charlotte and George. I hope you’ve had a splendid day, and a nice dinner. I have a bag of jelly beans trying to call my name, but am doing well in resisting the siren’s call (LOL).
All our best, 🙂
Did the jelly beans win 😆?
Best wishes
Charlotte
It is amazing that you have carried such a big role already, roll on the chances for more of them. Great research, thanks! Happy Easter to you too.
I was very grateful to Arcadian for such a great opportunity with orchestra. Justin and Ali were great supportive Directors throughout and prior to starting rehearsals I continued lessons on the material with Rosa my singing professor from the RCM, then I got some help with the coloratura runs from Judith my professor from the RCS whilst I was in Scotland on another job and lessons with coaches I put a lot of work in because I knew it was a big undertaking.
All my best wishes Hilary, hope you’re having a lovely Easter,
Charlotte
Happy Easter, my dear Charlotte! xoxo
Happy Easter my dear Marina I hope that you are well and enjoying the Easter weekend.
Best wishes
Charlotte xoxo
Thank you, my dear Charlotte.
Our Easter is end of April but I will keep your wishes for then! 😉
Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
Best wishes to you! ❤🐣❤
That is interesting I thought Easter was the same for every branch of Christianity thank you for letting me know. I must check if George’s family celebrate later this month in Romania.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I think it’s May 2 for Romania too. 😉
xoxo
I thought George was surprised when I was painting eggs yesterday. He just goes along with two different mother’s days, valentine days. We were going to have our marriage blessed in George’s Mum’s church the week following our British wedding last year and that will all need reorganising too once it is safer to travel for everyone.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I think now you’ll have to paint more eggs at the end of April 😉🤣
Here’s to safer days!!!
Best wishes!
❤🌟❤
Wishing you, George and your families a Happy Easter!
Here is a newspaper you might like, as it only focuses on the good. I came across it years ago at a coffeehouse down in Sonoma, California. If we only had more newspapers like this one!
http://www.upbeattimes.com/
Thank you 😊
Happy Oster Tag, Charlotte and George.
I love that your family name is Easter Day do you know it’s origins?
Best wishes
Charlotte x
No I don’t, Charlotte.
Happy Easter!
I hope that you had a lovely Easter holiday.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Easter. Nora Owl showed me her owlet, Fuzzy, this morning. What a lovely Easter gift from Nora Owl.
Oh Wow Tim, I love that you have named baby owl too. Fabulous new birth nature is just great.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Good morning happy Easter to you 🎉
Good afternoon Amritpal, thank you.
All my best wishes
Charlotte
Dear Charlotte,
Happy Resurrection Day! as we celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ rising from the grave. He is not there for He is risen, just as He said and now we have hope when we stand at the grave of a loved one that they too will rise with him the first fruits of the resurrection. May the Lord bless you richly my Beloved.
Thank you Rev Tim I hope that you have been able to hold Easter services.
All my best wishes
Charlotte
I hope your Easter went well!!
https://pacificparatrooper.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/th-23.jpg
“I was an Easter egg.”
Haha I love it I painted eggs last week, I’ve never painted a hen. I’ve had an opportunity to work singing last week it was like a complete energy rush.
Best wishes
Charlotte
When I was a kid there was the thing not about new clothes, but about certain styles and colors (white for women) that could not be worn before Easter. The news writes what sells, it is up to us to post the positive 🙂 I really like that photo of you at the top of the page – happy Spring! I hope you had a great weekend and Easter, despite the restrictions.
My brother was laughing because I wouldn’t put my head flat on the soil and that was making me laugh. I had been busy with preparations for a role but I just learnt it’s not going ahead sadly but hopefully it will later in the year, luckily I’d started with technical work so it won’t go to waste.
Best wishes Trent,
Charlotte
Sorry about the cancellation – hopefully soon, with vaccinations and such, performance will be back soon.
I’m sad to hear you have not yet been able to see your parents in person. I hope that will change soon – we are told here how WELL the UK is doing in reducing Covid and getting back to semi-normal and you will once again be on the stage. We had a lovely quiet Easter and hope you did, too!
Nearly four months, the longest ever in my life. Thank goodness for FaceTime. I painted eggs and prepared for singing work I had this week, singing with a mask on is a totally new experience.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I absolutely agree! Cheers to this: “….to celebrate all the acts of kindness and generosity that are all around us each and every day…” 🥂🍾
Thank you my friend. Cheers 🥂 🍾
All my best wishes
Charlotte
Glad Påsk 🙂
Thank you for message 😊 I hope that you had a great week.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thanks Charlotte. An thanks for all your share. You give lot of nice energies with your blog, with you album !!!
Wish you the best – See you soon !
If I don’t share the energy I think I’d burst 😂 I’m pleased you read my shares, fingers crossed things open up again soon, have you been offered your vaccine yet?
Wishing you my best too
Charlotte 😊
Not yet. They start with the more than 55 y old, I’m only 54 ….. I think it will be ok for May 🙂
Beautifully expressed.
Thank you for reading 😊
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Easter Charlotte!
What a nice tradition about the new clothes for Easter; I did not know about that (I just fasted from the internet for Lent, which is why you haven’t heard from me all that time!) but I may have to talk to my family about the idea. It would give me and my sister an excuse to go shopping every spring!
I agree with you, about wondering why should we focus more on the evil than on the good in the world. People use the existence of evil to make so many criticisms and pull down institutions and people for the mistakes they made rather than celebrating what they did well. So rarely does anyone mention how many incredible good things there are in the world for us to enjoy, for apparently no reason at all, and even in the worst of circumstances. Music and sunsets and flowers and children playing and silly jokes and love of family and friends — why are we blessed with all of this? All we need for survival is basic food and clothes and shelter and very minimal boring training. We don’t need the varieties and luxuries and multiple talents and abilities we have, and yet even very poor and suffering communities struggling for survival still find it in them to make beautiful jewelry and create exquisite poetry and celebrate festivals with those they love. We have so much more capacity for happiness than distress. Like you say, the worst of circumstances give opportunities for so many wonderful acts of kindness and unselfishness and heroism.
As Louis Armstrong would say, “what a wonderful world.”
Happy Easter!
Best regards,
Cate
Cate thank you for your thoughtful response it is always nice hearing from you, well done fasting from the internet! I had to take twitter notifications off my phone because of all the negativity on the platform. You are blessed with your super family as are George and I.
I’ve been surprised with lots of things this year, I don’t normally have time to pause and think too much just free-falling most of the time 😊.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Dear Cate,
Thank you for your lovely comment and reflections on the human capacity for good even in the midst of hardships.
Dear Charlotte,
Thank you for wishing all of us a Happy Easter, and for educating us about the history of Easter.
In the spirit of Easter, I would like to wish you, albeit belatedly, “Joyeuses Pâques!”
Did you manage to enjoy a lovely Easter weekend and do something special or unusual? Apart from singing and blogging, I wonder whether you have taken the chance to make some lovely things or read some unusual articles. Perhaps you have baked or consumed some lovely Easter cakes and cooked some Easter meals. Did you have the pleasure of visiting some interesting places or looking after your plants more diligently?
Speaking of what I have got myself occupied in, I have stayed up till very late around the time of Easter to complete some new graphics and eye-catching animations plus more pertinent information for my special Easter post entitled “Easter in Modern Multimedia Perspective“, which you can access directly at http://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/easter-in-modern-multimedia-perspective/
You are very welcome to peruse the extended and updated post at your earliest convenience. I would be delighted if you could kindly submit your feedback to my said post, as I am very keen and curious to know what you think or make of it.
For best viewing of my said post (and other posts for that matter), please use a desktop or laptop computer with a large screen to view the rich multimedia contents available for heightening your multisensory enjoyment at my blog, which could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately.
Furthermore, since my blog contains advanced styling and multimedia components plus animations, it is highly recommended to read my posts and pages directly in my blog so that you will be able to see and experience all of the refined and glorious details. In order to see all of the animations contained in my said post, please make sure that you view the post directly on my blog and not via the WordPress Reader.
In particular, scroll down to the end of my said post entitled “Easter in Modern Multimedia Perspective” to watch the complex animations under the heading “Related Articles 📰 with Animations“. Please enjoy!
May you find the rest of 2021 very much to your liking and highly conducive to your singing, writing, reading, thinking and blogging about whatever topics that take your intellectual fancy, seduce your gustatory pleasure or tickle your spiritual delight!
Happy May to you and Cate soon!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
A belated happy Easter to you and yours.
Vivons donc, si vous le voulez bien. 🙏🏻
A very late ‘Happy Easter’ to you and George, Charlotte. Your research about Easter clothes reminds me of what my mother tells me of her Easters when she was a little girl. On Easter Sunday she had to change from thick winter clothes and woollen stockings and put on a summer frock, cardigan and short socks no matter what the weather was like or how early in the spring Easter came. She always froze and shivered especially as they only ever had one fire at home and the rest of the house was cold.
Take care my dear and keep your chin up. Things are improving and I am sure you will begin to be able to work again xx
Happy belated Easter! The past year has definitely been a challenging one, to say the least, but you’re right that we should focus on the positives and the various blessings that God sends our way. 🙂
The first picture is adorable and warm. It kept me hooked on what you had to tell in this post. It was lovely reading it. I also listened to the song and liked it. Loved reading your post.
I too look forward with kindness. Hope in what the future may be😊