the journal: sonic infusions of memory and restoration

Hello there, soul sister,

There’s a quiet power in listening. Not just to others, but to the landscapes around us, the echoes within us, and the memories held in the body. Olivia Melkonian , a UK-based Armenian producer, DJ and sonic archivist and co-creator of Out of Office Creative Retreats Vol. 4, brought this kind of deep listening to our week together in Morocco.

Her presence felt like a grounding frequency - steady, curious, and quietly powerful. Olivia’s practice explores how sound can hold memory, create space for reflection, and connect people across time and place. Her work isn’t just heard, but rather felt.

Set between the stillness of the Agafay Desert, the retreat unfolded as a series of transformative, sensory-rich moments. Olivia’s contributions helped shape the experience from the inside out, guiding us to attune not only to the world around us, but also to ourselves and each other.

Below, she shares her reflections on the retreat, a glimpse into how sound, sisterhood, and space came together.

“Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of joining 13 other women on the fourth volume of Out of Office Creative Retreats in Morocco. We spent six dream-like days together, weaving between creative sessions, intimate conversations, pure laughter and gorgeous landscapes. I joined the retreat as a co-creator, and held a session that explored sound, taste and memory. A little different from the sessions I usually hold, which take more of a workshop format and explore archiving through the sonic medium, I wanted to try something new. The session was in two parts: first, a guided sonic meditation, and second, a communal tea ceremony. Driven by the introspection and building an innate trust in the self, the session encouraged an engagement of full-body listening with embodied memory.

The session began with the reading of a short excerpt of Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act”:

Living life as an artist is a practice.

You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not.

It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.

It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.”

You are either living as a monk or you’re not.

We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.

The real work of the artist

is a way of being in the world.

Each person sat or laid loosely in a circle, with our speaker, and a selection of herbs, in the middle. Offered the option to listen with their eyes open or closed, those who kept their eyes open were met with the mesmerising landscapes of the Agafay desert, gorgeous caramel-coloured rolling hills as far as the eye could see, from the comfort of our glass-walled chalet adorned with soft wool rugs and pillows. As someone who does not meditate, I understand the apprehension that can come up when you are told “we are going to sit, and listen, and meditate for 20 minutes”. I shared this with the other women, but invited them to listen to my guidance to embark on a journey that explored what makes them who they are: from their qualities, to their experiences, their memories and their aspirations. I introduced the sesion as a space for listening - not just to sound, but to memory, to the body, and to the quiet shifts happening within. Taking place on the fourth day of our retreat, it was no doubt that each person had a multitude of internal shifts happening. The herbs and spices were introduced, acknowledging the scents, feelings and stories they carry. Some more personal to others, the women were invited just to observe them, and notice what draws them in, thinking about which ones encourage feelings of grounding, familiarity or aspiration.

The sonic meditation began. Split into five short sections, the meditation first acted as a portal to a dream-like realm.

This opening session, lasting just a couple of minutes, helped to ground the women, bringing their own internal landscape into focus. We then transitioned into a space of sacred memory, using familiar archival sounds that would resonate differently with each person. I invited the women to reflect on the known world, and the experiences that have shaped them. Fragments of place, life and memory arose without searching. There wasn’t a need to analyse, just observe and be present within. Moving into a more gentle transformational space, the familiar sounds began to slightly distort, suspending the imagination of the women as we transitioned our minds to think more freely about the qualities we’ve harnessed through these formative moments and memories: where have we shown strength, care, clarity? When have we surprised ourselves? What do we value in ourselves, and how can we better recognise what already lies within? Letting the sound carry us forward into spaciousness, the sonic experience became expansive, through evolving warmth and resonance, moving beyond the known and into the optimal present. I asked:

“What do you want to cultivate within yourself?
What qualities do you wish to grow, to strengthen, to embody more fully?”

After some moments of introspection, we reflected on how these qualities already exist within us - they might be quiet, or hidden, but they are there. In this space, we remember them, and invite them forward, to settle into our body, mind and thoughts. Returning to stillness, the sonic meditation came to a close as the sounds started to dissipate, blending in with the external sonic environment until there was no produced sound, only natural. This re-grounding and re-integration invited the new areas of silence as space to hold what we had remembered, released, and reconnected with. The sonic meditation came to a close, and a few moments later, a little bird flew into our chalet, soared around the ceiling one time, then flew out again. It felt like a special omen.

We shared some thoughts and reflections on the experience, and then transitioned into the tea ceremony: an invitation to embody the memory that resonated within us. The herbs, dried flowers, and spices were all laid out in the centre of the room in glass cups that emphasised their texture and gorgeous colours. Alongside each one was a note with its name, and its spiritual benefits - harnessing sacred cultural, ancient and indigenous uses of these offerings. The selection included rose, cinnamon, clove, star anise, verbena, chamomile, mint, and more. I introduced this part by saying:

“Think about the herbs that harness traits you admire. You are invited to blend them into your own tea - a small ritual of self-recognition, restoration, intention and embodiment. When we drink the tea, we’ll be infusing what we’ve remembered, released, and become.”

Passing around little DIY tea bags, we followed our intuition, as well as our eyes and noses, to create a customised tea blend - a continuation of what we had reflected on during the meditation. Infusing elements of the present self that we wish to harness, and reflecting on aspirations for growth, we concluded our session through this act of communal integration, embodying the restorative qualities we had meditated upon. Filling our cups with hot water and taking a seat back in the circle, we each shared what we had chosen to include in our blend and why - the qualities we wanted to remember within ourselves, or reawaken, or the aspirations we had dreamt.

Hosting this session felt dream-like and intimate - inviting people into my sonic practice through an avenue that I haven’t explored before also felt fresh, exciting and curious. It reiterated to me what I already know: the power of sound is immense. The way that it can transport you, evoke memories and imagination, and give rise to emotions is incredible. It was also a very intimate experience - although we experienced the meditation together, each person engaged in their own deep listening, and had unique experiences, reflections and emotions surface. Inspired always by the fragility and power of memory, especially when evoked through our senses, infusing our reflections through taste was a beautiful way to close our session. Whether or not you truly believe that cardamom opens the heart, sage induces wisdom and purification, or that rose represents emotional healing, when you honour the offerings of the earth through acts of ancestral understanding and respect, their gifts may begin to take root within you psychologically, whether you’re aware of it or not. 

When women come together to communally engage in self-reflection, honour, and dreaming, the freedom to be truly self-reliant, confident, and strong is cultivated - both on an individual level, and a collective one. What seems like a simple act becomes a quiet, powerful reclamation of self that echoes beyond the personal, reminding us that healing, strength, and transformation are not just solitary paths, but shared ones too.”

***

What Olivia created for us was more than a session. It was a sacred pause. A soft turning inward. A remembering. In a world that moves fast and asks us to be louder, quicker, more certain, she reminded us that there is deep wisdom in stillness, in softness, in simply using our senses to ground ourselves - to taste, to listen. Olivia, thank you for guiding us home to ourselves and each other.

Blessings, light, and love,
Your friend, Sally