issue #11 Many Moons
A New Beginning (and a new workshop!)
For me, this is the time of year for reflection. Here in Lviv, Ukraine the weather is frigid and snowy, and the days are agonizingly short. So sitting here now, gazing at heavy icicles draped precariously over the rooftops of my courtyard, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I spend time looking back. 2023 was a year of profound change for me. I guess all years are in their own way ~ but this one was different. The challenges were compounded, and I’d be lying if I said it was a “great” year. Maybe I’ll write more about those specifics sometime, but at the heart of it was great uncertainity about my career and living situation (thankfully resolved now). But new opportunities were born from those challenges, so looking back, I guess it really is just a matter of perspective. Like one of my favorite spiritual teachers Thich Nhat Hanh always said ~ “without the mud, there can be no lotus.”
As some of my subscribers have noticed, my newsletter has been renamed “Many Moons,” which is the name of my brand of flutes that I’ve been crafting. After much deliberation, I decided to bring everything under that creative umbrella. I’ll still share some of the stories like I used to on “I Think I’m Tripping,” but the vibe of that theme was beginning to feel restrictive, and trying to share within those confines was stifling my creativity.
Early in the year, while I was in California, I took a leap and began to share my passion for crafting world flutes with the world - i.e. on social media (Instagram @matthewpropert). I’ve been making them just for the love of it for about 5 years, and have shared a little about it here and there, but never with much intention. So I was surprised by how much positive feedback I received and even more surprised when I sold everything I had shared. It felt great to be contributing an art form to the world that can bring peace and wellbeing into someone’s life, as well as beautiful music, and that comes from such a beautiful and sacred tradition. I’ll do another post soon about all the reasons I have connected with, and love, world flutes, besides simply playing music with them.
When I got back to Lviv in September, I knew I wanted to find a workshop to really dive deep into this passion and find a good workflow. While I’m here, I live in an apartment in the city, and since flute-making is inherently a very messy process, I needed a dedicated space to forge on with my craft. By sheer luck, my wife Uliana found an ad for a workshop space that was available for rent just a few minutes from our apartment. It’s right next to some yoga and dance studios, and there are some other artist spaces around so the atmosphere felt great. It was a primitive space, but after five or six weeks of work we got it looking pretty nice with some fresh paint, a new window installed, and some of the furniture and tools necessary to really have a functional studio. It set me back for a while with actually making new instruments, but in the long run I know it’ll all be worth it. So far it has been incredibly nice to have the dedicated workshop. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time!
I want to thank everyone who has subscribed and contributed to my Substack. I love this outlet and I’m excited about this new chapter of evolution ~ both for myself and for the creative manifestations that will emerge. I have always felt that when I’m inspired I’m in my power, and life unfolds in the way I trust is best. So here’s to keeping the passion alive. I hope everyone is having a beautiful start to the holiday season, whatever that may mean to each of you. For me, it means traveling soon back to California to spend time with family and friends and soak up some nice weather - and hopefully some waves, too.
If you’re interested in checking out some of my available flutes here’s a link to my Etsy shop. Eventually I hope to have a dedicated website, but for now this is where I’m showing them:
And here’s a link to my YouTube channel where I share more about the flutes, and some music:
