New Beginnings

New Beginnings

‘This whole winter long, I’ve been lost in a song, drinking coffee, not eating much food. I put down my pen and think of my friend, I know that he’s starving too’  from “Brightest Star” by Lilly Hiatt

I’ve been more drawn to this kind of writing lately. Words and music that make me feel stronger help me move through this period of time where it feels like we’ve been asleep for a year. I’m ready to be shaken awake and bounce into springtime. Last year we were cancelling plans and wondering what was going to happen. This year we are slowly opening up and blooming. There are many new beginnings, and each day is a chance to have one.

This song seemed simple at first and I thought it would be easy to learn but I have to confess that I struggled with trying to sing it! Singing along with a song you love is one thing, but to figure out how to ‘perform’ it is another. And since Lilly and I have similar ranges, I definitely thought that would be the easy part. But nope. It can be a dangerous moment when suddenly your own voice fails you. The inner voices start in ‘maybe you aren’t such a good singer after all… maybe you should stop this nonsense… no one wants to hear you butcher this song… ‘ and the U-turns of giving up keep on going. But every time I took a break from it, this song kept haunting me and I was hearing it in my head when I was running or working or I’d wake up thinking about it. I enjoyed having someone else’s song knocking on the door of my mind like that. So I gave it a shot a few more times. Right now I have about 10 versions of it on my phone so I guess I’ll pick the one that sounds best to me today and roll with it. Update: I picked the one in the pink PJ’s gifted to me from Jenni Finlay. It isn’t perfect but it has some spunk. 

The other thing I love about this song is that it’s its own pep talk, and that’s another reason it keeps lifting me up! I feel like the world needs a shot of espresso and some Stuart Smalley affirmations. At least we get Lilly Hiatt. 

 “You’ve got a thing that nobody else has, so just shine.”