What was The WorlDream?For the new Millennium in 2001; I wanted to see all my friends and family. And there's only one way I knew of doing that- by going to every filk convention that was held that year. And because I am an insane completist, I did go to every filk convention, in order- including Contata in 2002, ConCertino in 2003, Conflikt I in 2008, and DFDF I in 2009 (since they weren't held in 2001). On the face of it, this doesn't mean much. But I thought about why I wanted to see as much of my tribe as possible, and it boiled down to gratefulness for the feeling of being accepted for who I am; and connecting through music. (yeah, cliche; I know. But if you know me, you'll know I'm a sap... and filk and related communities have given me almost everything I value.) In the end, I didn't want anything big- just one song. The only caveat is that I wanted every filker possible singing on it, and sharing this connection. So, I wrote a song, to be recorded at every Filk con in 2001. And I found other songs like it; and I tried to spread 'em around far and wide as well. We recorded this song at every con- as sung by (on average) two thirds of the attendees of each convention. The goal? Cut and splice the recordings together if possible so that every filker on the planet who wants to is participating on the same song at the same time. In other words, the purpose and focus of this project was to bring as many of everyone together as possible, a statement of community at the beginning of the new Millennium. In the end, I would like us to have a single recording that even the folks who will never produce a recording can say "Hey- I'm on that!" Will it sound good? Probably not. But that's not the point. The point is the feeling of connection we had from everyone participating in a shared experience across time and geography. In the end; this was an incredible shared experience; and one of the highlights of my life. Thank you, everyone for participating- I hope you were able to feel the same things I did.
Copyright © 2020 by Steve Macdonald
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