To A Love Song

Today, back to blog posting. I’m going to talk about music.

I have drafted three of these posts in the past week, addressing life from several different angles, trying to make sense of my part in the chaotic times we are living through.

Finally I have come to this. I will talk about music.

It’s really the thing that I know best, the grounding element in my life. When I say music I don’t just mean as a listener, but as a creator. The word ‘music’ means to me creativity, power, expression, connection, joy, freedom. Music in my life is representative to that which drives me, that which gives my life purpose.

I realize that at every point, when a fork in my path appeared and I was offered a more traditional path, I always either subconsciously or thoughtfully chose the one I am on. Jobs in law firms and investment banks, regular paychecks and lack of risk, these have appeared in my life, and every time it seemed obvious that I was to choose the other option. I am living the other option, and now when I again question the worthiness of my efforts in a world fraught with difficulty, I keep doubling down on this. Music.

The way music unites us, binds us, erases divisions, connects us at a cellular level, reminds us of our compassion and empathy, this is what I can speak rapturously of forever. In my life, I have met so many people, connected my heart to so many others, all through this magical language. Drums are language, songs are energy. I believe in the magic of it. I fall on my knees in devotion to what is truly singing.

It is one of the few things I can say with certainty, I know.

At the end of every creative project is the question, now what? After my book was finished, a wise advisor asked me, if there were no limits, if you could do anything you wanted, if you thought about what makes you happiest, what do you get lost in doing? If you could do something every day, what would that be? What if you could do anything, with no rules?

I knew my answer immediately. I saw a very happy memory, days in the Olivewood Elementary School play yard with my two friends, Missy and Laura, writing what we called “operettas,” little songs that told stories. I flashed on the days spent in the recording studio with Rob Preston, laughing and looking up and realizing that the day was gone in the blink of an eye. I felt the silence of my studio with the door closed and the whole room enveloped with possibility. I know the magic of how a drumbeat unlocks words and melodies, and how I can sit in the studio for hours building songs, gifted with spectacular glimpses of moments in which I am guided to take dictation.

It’s songwriting that gives me joy. Drumming is joy, singing is joy, and luckily, when I write songs I use both of those talents and more. Words and music and meaning and connection and transcendence, this is where all my parts come together and meet. All the choices I made have guided me to this endeavor, writing gifts for the world, which accepts them or doesn’t at its whim. I can only remind myself of the great power of our collective soul in my writing, and hope that my songs remind others of this truth.

I am in uncertainty with how to proceed in the world, what will present itself for me to act on, how I can best serve the collective. So I come back to the only thing I know. Music.

The healthiest thing I think any of us can do right now is to work with the familiar. To connect to the light that we know. To hope and dream and create and relentlessly, constantly step into our power for good. To love with abandon.

All that being said, this is also a bit of an announcement. I didn’t expect that I would be releasing new music in such turbulent times, but this is how it is working out.

I have finished two albums of music and the first song from the first one will be released on December 10. The songs on this album, Nothing Will Keep Us Apart, are songs of love, for the other and in that, to the divine. I am fascinated with love, the complexities of what love demands of us and the vibration of love that I believe underpins all things. I was in dialog with these things when I wrote these songs, and now the discussion of how to love seems more important with each day.

Your support has always meant the world to me, and there will be upcoming videos and writing and all the output required to bring songs into the world.

Much love to you, and thank you for taking the ride with me.

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You can listen to me read this on Soundcloud or as an iTunes Podcast.

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