Previous APH Conferences

Origin of the Listen Theme
by Jane Baxter
2007 APH Conference Program Chair

Throughout the months of planning and coordinating the 2007 APH conference many ideas popped into my head and proved ultimately to fit into our grand design. One particular morning early in the planning process started much like any other as I sat in my office mulling over many possible conference elements. However, that day I was struck by a melody and lyrics that insisted on my focus. That whole song creation process, as best I recall, took very little time as I unconsciously allowed this musical gift to flow through me. This is highly unusual for me due to my instinctive tendency to judge and analyze everything until the creative spark gives up. In fact, I have notebook upon notebook of unfinished songs and story ideas to back this claim.

So, I guess I must have jotted the lyrics down as they came and shortly thereafter picked up my iPod, outfitted with an iTalk mic primarily for verbal note taking, and sang a rough version of “Listen” into it. I felt it was important enough to keep, but, as always in my mind., it needed work. There it sat far weeks, unheard again until something pushed me to share it-warts and all-with Paula Yost, APH Conference Coordinator, and Paula Stahel, present APH President, during their Executive Committee visit here in March of ’07. They were encouraging in their response, but I put it on the back burner again until Paula Yost mentioned the song to the remainder of the EC also in town for their planning meeting. They wanted to hear it and after doing so were again very encouraging. Even so, it went back to low priority status in my mind.

As the weeks and months wore on there were more and more specific and time-consuming duties relative to the conference. Yet there was this song hanging in the back of my mind. I chose to ignore it until the week before the conference when Jeanne Archer, past APH President, emailed me to request that I include the “Listen” song somehow in the conference program. She had found herself unconsciously humming the tune for several days-every songwriter’s dream for their creation. Yet, I still feared the imperfection of the song. So I called a friend with a recording studio on Saturday, he squeezed me in on Sunday, arranged a guitar part, recorded my vocal and delivered the mixed song on Monday, November 5th. Of course, I still felt it imperfect and was unsure if I would in fact include it in the conference program. When I met with the full incoming and outgoing APH Board on Wednesday morning for a last-minute conference review, Paula Yost alluded to the song and Jeanne requested it. So I played it for them, and they deemed that it should open the conference. So be it.

Even so, the following Friday morning as I delivered the opening Welcome comments to conference attendees I nearly forgot to play “Listen”. Again, something reminded me in the midst of my whirlwind of thoughts, and I played it for the group. It was very well received and many people commented on and requested the song for themselves throughout the rest of the conference.

I tell you all of this to better expose how much I resist the truly wonderful gifts this world provides me. Even more importantly, I hope this helps to describe the undeniable power and persistence the universe will employ if you let it. Believing allows us to see what we most want and need.

Thanks to all of you who believed and pushed me to embrace and share the gifts I have been entrusted with providing. You do truly bring light to the surface with your will and your work. I am honored and proud to be a member of such a fine group of individuals.

kindly yours,
jane