I was fortunate enough, a couple weeks ago, to go and spend a week at one of our provincial parks here in Saskatchewan. Cypress Hills Interprovincial park is close to where I grew up and is a place I often go for inspiration and rest. Before arriving at the park, I wondered if I knew what I was doing? Would I really find inspiration here? I was planning to write and finish some songs. As soon as I arrived and got unpacked I realized that I was right to come, that I did know what I was doing. I remembered continue reading…
Creativity
February is the month of love
February is the month of love! I think we can view this more broadly than romantic love as love can show up in our lives in many ways. I have been playing different love songs for Wednesdays with Wanda this month and when I played a show in Saskatoon I tried to think about different types of love and love songs. I played some songs about romantic love, the good and bad sides as well as some songs that I love. I had a few lovely moments at the show in Saskatoon. A two year old and his dad come continue reading…
Transitions
I realized a few weeks ago that transitioning out of my life as a nurse was going to be a little more challenging then I thought. I will be retiring July 1st. I have been so tired from my work as a nurse that I had assumed that there would be no issues with this change. Then I realized that I have a lot of pride in what I have done in my nursing life and that I wanted to leave it in a thoughtful way. I have come at this in a couple of ways. Firstly, I went to continue reading…
Happy New Year 2019
Happy New Year! I hope that 2019 has started well for you! I have been thinking about people being whom we don’t want them to be. It’s been a theme this last week when I have been talking to friends. We can’t make people do what we want them to or have them be whom we would like them to be. Perhaps it has come up this last while because people have been hanging out with their families over this holiday season and if there are people we would like to change, it would be those we are closest to. continue reading…
Christmas is nearly here.
Christmas is nearly here. I decided this year I would play a few shows during December as part of my music biz plan. People like music at Christmas and I had a Christmas single to play so it seemed like a sound decision. I have enjoyed playing although I have only just gotten into the spirit of the season. I received a couple Christmas cards a couple days ago and that helped. It is interesting to sing Christmas tunes and not actually be in the Christmas spirit. It was fun to have people sing along. It was also a stretch continue reading…
Five Years of Music
I have recently heard that we overestimate what can be done in a year and underestimate what can be done in five years. I was thinking about this as I went up the elevator to my nursing job this morning! I began to reflect about all that I have been able to accomplish in five years. Five years ago I was driving to Saskatoon every couple weeks to do pre-production work on my first album Awakening. That first album was released the following September. I had a lovely release. I also didn’t know anything about the music biz. In January continue reading…
Christmas is Coming
We are in the month of November, Halloween has come and gone and Christmas is just around the calendar. That’s how things are for those of us in Canada. Remembrance Day was this past Sunday (Veterans Day in the United States) and we don’t talk a lot about Christmas until we are at least past November 11th. When I mention to people that Christmas is very close, there is a variety of responses. There is either joy at the idea that their favorite time of year is here or dislike at the mention of it. Christmas brings out feelings like continue reading…
Showing Up
I have just finished my 10 day tour Life is Wide Open 2, which took me from Regina, Sask to Kelowna, BC. I had six shows in all and I am grateful for each one. The biggest lesson for me was the reminder that it is important to show up. I reconnected with friends from my grade 12 class (1977) and with other friends whom I hadn’t seen for several years. It was also a healing journey for me as I reconnected with old friends from my church life. I was very involved with my church life and Christian faith continue reading…
New Season, New Beginnings
It is eleven months since my album Shifting Sands was released. It is nearly impossible to believe that it was such a short time ago. I have come to love and understand these songs more and more as I play them. As I head out on my tour/trip I understand again the words of the song Thanks Past Me. I find myself almost daily being grateful that I can depend on something I have done or learned in this past year. I bought some new sound equipment yesterday and was proud to realize that I do understand some of the continue reading…
New Connections
I have had a lot of chances during this last month to experience some new connections and for this I am very grateful. I just finished a trip to the UK where I met my first grandchild. It is impossible to express how grateful I am for this new person who has come into my life. The most amazing things are often the ones you don’t expect. I had never really thought about being a grandma but here it is and it is so cool, new connections indeed! Before I left for my trip to the UK, a wise friend continue reading…
