I was introduced to Senegalese musician Youssoupha Sidibe in of all places, northern California, at the Science & Nonduality Conference (SAND), an event dedicated to raising the level of consciousness and merging the worlds of spirituality and science under one roof.
His musical career began over twenty years ago in Senegal, West Africa, where he was trained as a Kora player at the National Music Conservatory of Senegal. His music fuses traditional West African sounds on the Kora, with the Sufi devotional chanting of the Senegalese Baay Faal community.
The result is a beautiful sensation of pure joy through a series of angelic-like sounds combined with an indigenous harp. Youssoupha’s devotional lyrics are sung in Wolof, Arabic, French and English.
At the SAND Conference, he performed to an audience of scientists, philosophers, artists, physicists, authors, academics, healers, teachers and yogis. His music brought us all into a place of serenity and grace as we slowed down and ‘felt’ his rhythm deeply at the end of a long but inspiring day.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
