Hi Everyone, I’ve been writing.
I don’t know what to call the past three months. I feel like it needs a name. No matter what you call it, or what these past three months have been like for you, you know what I’m talking about.
I woke up on the morning of March 13th to the news I wouldn’t be heading into my job at a public charter high school for at least the next three weeks which then turned into three months. My schedule was cleared & my daily routines dramatically changed.
My husband laughs at me a little bit whenever I make this statement, and I make it a lot: “I’m processing.” I’m a processor. I’m a deep thinker. It takes me some time to think things through, to formulate an opinion, & to consider how I feel about something. So in the days following March 13th, I found myself in the midst of a world that was becoming really “loud.” In the quietness & isolation of my sweet little farmhouse, I was processing. I began processing sitting in front of my piano. I began writing songs.
I’ve written 11 full songs since the morning of March 13th & dozens of song fragments, & I find myself still writing.
As I flip through my journal, the worn pages are now filled with my hand-written words. My songs & various melodies have bounced off the walls in the privacy of my home, but I have a strong desire to begin sharing them with the world.
Author Madeline L’Engle writes, “The writer does want to be published; the painter urgently hopes that someone will see the finished canvas… the composer needs his music to be heard. Art is communication, & if there is no communication, it is as though the work has been stillborn.”
With those words in mind, you have no idea how important YOU are to the process of creating art. You have no idea how much it means when you listen, look, & engage with any artist & his or her work. Most importantly, you have no idea how much it impacts & blesses artists when you communicate back what our work has meant to you. That is the very reason we seek to share – it is to serve.
I’ve thought long & hard about how to share my work. I’m not looking for a record deal or a national tour, but I am looking for listeners. Maybe by revealing my thoughts, wonderings, struggles, & processes over the past three months, someone else might not feel so alone in exploring those same questions.
Recording an album or releasing an EP isn’t unthinkable for the future, but the cost of professional recording, mixing, mastering, & distribution is not currently in my means. It is a huge undertaking. And I believe art, in general, needs to be shared now more than ever.
So I’m going use what I have: a couple recording microphones, a computer, a few instruments, a voice, & a YouTube account. Over the next weeks & months, I will be sharing song lyrics, full recordings, lyric videos, & blogs featuring my poetry & insights into my writing process. I invite you to take part, to be an active listener, to share, and maybe even pass it along to a friend.
Stay tuned & thank you for listening & by doing so, taking an active part in the creative process.
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