Francis Flood was a member of Anúna from 2016 until 2019. He travelled in Europe and Asia with the ensemble and was a member of M’ANAM.

On the way home from a surfing trip with Anúna I saw the most beautiful sunset of my life. We remarked that the sunset doesn't try to be beautiful, and yet cultures across the world look to the setting sun as one of the most stunning natural phenomena one can witness. I come from a part of Ireland where the quiet beauty of things is made clear - it comes alive when you seek it out. Singing with Anúna forces you to seek out your own vulnerability and show those quiet parts of yourself to others. Once we accept these parts of ourselves they become alive and grow and become our strengths.

When we feel pain in our bodies, there is nowhere else for that pain to exist - it is unique to us - and yet compassion can guide others to feel that same pain that we feel. This is true for the emotions too. When  I saw that sunset, it introduced me to the emotions that were already within me, just obscured by the daily worries of life. I wanted to share that sense of awe with every person I met in my life. I wanted to introduce people to what that sunset felt like.

For me, these are the ideas that Anúna orbits around. Anúna is culture which breaks and sets the broken parts of you. You don't get to choose whether or not this happens; the only choice you have is to set yourself correctly or incorrectly - that is your responsibility. Anúna gives us a culture and community to express ideas greater than ourselves. We have that freedom, but it's up to us to use that freedom wisely.

Anúna brings these lessons out in every interaction: balance and imbalance; order and chaos. Each serves a purpose - something to flee from or to reach for, but it's not clear what is needed. We must use our conscience to listen to the present moment, and we must breathe to relax and act out our better instincts.

We are creatures with stories in our genes. We pay attention to each other; to the world around us, and we are rewarded with the gift of feeling something. Sometimes that feeling may be subtle, but it's in those moments of introspection that the quiet beauty comes alive, and we tap into something greater than ourselves.