I'm almost to the end of a 40 day writing challenge to work towards writing a book. In those 40 days, I played with a new kind of writing- writing consistently about how I feel and think about music, based on questions that people have asked me over the years, and also my own experience.
It felt great! But I didn't feel these writings told the whole story, and also about half of what I had planned to write about music felt like enough analytical writing. So I went back to the end of August, when I attempted to do the job I was always expected to do by my family (public school music teacher), and then injured myself seriously on the job and got eaten alive by the system, and compiled all of the writing I've done- mostly from daily journaling- since then. Turns out I've written close to 100,000 words in that time (the length of some novels). Writing is an emotional lifeline for me, it helps me sort out my feelings and try to figure out in a safe space how to express myself. I've really been enjoying having another outlet besides songwriting, as that requires a specific kind of emotional, mental, and physical energy that I just don't always have, especially as I get older. Do you have a daily ritual that you do that helps you survive and sort out life as you go? I'd love to hear about it.
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Finding plenty of joy along with the craziness of a no-filter life. My brain just didn't come equipped with that part, and that makes for a VERY interesting ride. I see too much, I hear too much, feel and process way too much. That's why the songs pour out of me, why I sometimes get to glimpse the truth in a world that tends to lie, and why I'm on the path I'm on. It makes for some very interesting dreams. I'm not scaling the mountain. I don't have the energy for that. I'm going around it, and seeing so much more along the way. I've learned to embrace the way I'm wired more and more over the past five years or so, with a lot of help from some friends on the path, more and more, to the point where I still feel all the feels but I don't get stuck in them. And that's a good feeling. Hope you are finding your joy out there too, even when you have to dig it out of the mud. #songwriter #nofilter #creativelife #allthefeels #unstuck After a year of not being able to hit the high A in the one classical piece that survived in my repertoire from college, suddenly, it's back! Maybe because my daughter fell in love with the song, perhaps a mother's love opened up my throat and let it come out. I took a long break from this song as well. The power of rest when needed. I have to truly pace myself and stay super relaxed through the entire song to hit these two high A's at the end. Another powerful lesson. Will share when I figure out how to record a high A LOL.
The song is Gretchen am Spinnrade by Franz Schubert. It's about a woman who was abandoned by her lover who is sitting at the spinning wheel and lamenting her loss. The piano part is the spinning wheel. It's incredibly gorgeous, I've been trying to master the art of singing and playing it for many years now. Maybe I'm finally almost there. Worth noting that at 42, I can sing this song a thousand times better than I did at 22. Turns out the voice gets better with age. |
Alison HarrisSharing the process of songformation ArchivesCategories |