Why now?

Let’s face it, I’m no spring chicken! I’m 55 and I just started writing songs this last year.

I stopped singing 16 years ago after a series of losses that gutted me. The truth is, before the losses, singing wasn’t really fun because everything had to be perfect. Not only did it have to be perfect, I had to sing really hard songs. Every song was a vocal feat that didn’t allow me to just relax and have fun. Because, perfectionism. So, it was a bit of a relief to stop. Why start now? COVID quarantine. The quarantine put me in a situation where I had to get creative. As a Youth Ed. Director at my church, I had to come up with a creative way to offer Sunday school to our kids that was engaging and entertaining. I opened myself up to singing again and made weekly music videos to go along with each lesson. That meant I had to learn GarageBand and record a new song each week. I really think the learning process and time restraint were a gift, because there was no way I could be perfect! My voice had totally changed since I hadn’t sung in so long, so I had to pick easier songs and lower the key because I no longer had a huge vocal range. A funny thing happened in all that imperfection and ease. I started having fun. I think having fun is what opened up my creativity to songwriting. I couldn’t have written songs before because there was no room for imperfections and you can’t write a song if you can’t tolerate a first draft. I have lots to say, so, why not now?