PRESS ARTICLES : Die Welt

An accident destroyed her career as an artist. Yet she never lost the power of creation.

The New Life of Helena Lind

MIZPAH - a word from the holy scriptures can be translated to "hopeful expectation", a symbol of peace and wisdom. It is written on the antique locket given to Helena when she was eleven years old. A gift from her mother in rememberance of Helena's beloved grandfather, whith whom she shared the passion for music, literature and history from earliest childhood, the myths around the magical world of Avalon being her favourites...and Mizpah.

"I loved the mysterious word MIZPAH since I was a little kid. To me it was a magical spell of goodness, not knowing then that it would be exactly that for my life one far away day."

Later she named her music and companies AVALON, after the legendary "Island of the Blessed" and "other world" of the Celts , said to exist somewhere in the south-west of the British Isles, where she also produces her music.

"I like to reach people who expect more, be it in music or in life itself", says the artist.

Lind made a remarkable career, starting 1985 in Germany's then media capital Hamburg.

Later she moved to the country. There we meet her, not in a representative office but her favourite corner of the house, "the rummage room" : covered in masses of manuscripts, books, production notes, records and CDs. It is difficult to spot the piano, which is currently hidden under her jewellery designs. Helena Lind's charming personal motto "seek to be found" is written on the wall, accompanied by her poems, lyrics and ideas.The tiny place oozes creativity and spirit.

Helena Lind's life has always been her daughter Nefer, music and being there for others.
A good life, endangered extremely in 1992, just after the release of Helena's most important musical work "The Magic World of Avalon". The consequences of an accident en route to a television appearance leave Helena totally incapacitated.

"I lost my health, many abilities and all I've worked for, everything that there was to lose, to be then left "for dead" along roadside", Lind remembers without a trace of bitterness.
She refused to accept what to others seemed her unalterable fate. She still had her inner strength, her belief, ideals and: her family's old locket: "MIZPAH!"

The hopeful meaning became the leitmotif of Helena Lind, reminding her never to give up.

"Even when there was nothing but problems galore, insults heaped upon injuries, I looked up, never down. You can still think and dream, even when in pain, stuffed with medication and without a so called scientifically based prognosis. I chose to follow my shining star, focussing on turning inspiration into reality".

Like a dream walker, with great courage and following her self-created exercise and health regime, Lind overcomes a major part of the severe consequences from the accident, always straight in the face of adverse circumstances. After a struggle of many years she begins to re-emerge from the shadows by composing her star-lit dream into the poem and song "The Feeling of Mizpah", soon to be released on CD.

Lind starts up again with hardly a penny to her name but a lot of determination and irresistable charisma.
And slowly, step by step, the lady succeeds.

The new AVALON album MIZPAH moves the listener with 14 symphonic phantasies into another world. Emotion without "kitsch", emphasized by the powerful ethnical instruments of the British Isles. Not being trademarked as "The Sound of Eternity" for nothing.

Lind interprets the amazing melody of "The Feeling of Mizpah" incomparably, wrapped in the warm sound and masterly orchestration of world class keyboardist Michael Taylor (Sniff'n the Tears, Renaissance etc.) , her AVALON partner-in-music from the happy days before the accident.

"Whenever the floor seemed to vanish under my feet I was singing "The Feeling of Mizpah" to myself and simply marched on the winding but right road ahead. It works for me.", Lind admits with a smile.

The CDs are launched in concert with a small but very appealing collection of Mizpah jewellery, created by Helena Lind with loving attention to historical detail, mostly handmade from gold and silver by a small family firm in Birmingham, just like 150 and more years ago.

Helena has achieved her first goal uniting her music and the ancient symbol-word of hope and love - Mizpah - in a very unique and working philosophy.

But this is just the beginning. There are more dreams to come true: " Mizpah is an answer, an idea to get people in all big and small corners of the globe to start thinking about walking towards each other, to cooperate, eliminating madness and learning to jump those selfrighteous shadows. With a little bit of truly good will it is possible to understand and live the message and say : MIZPAH !"

Article by Guenter Fink
Published in "Die Welt"

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