This is a song about secrets.  The secrets we keep from ourselves and others that have a way of coming to the surface when we connect deeply- with ourselves, our hearts, each other.  I recently had the experience of being hit by a sleeper wave of sorrow as I explore old wounds for the first time.  At first I protected my heart with anger.  I'm not proud of that but it's true.  A friend suggested- maybe the other side of that anger is pain.  But when I let myself feel deep sorrow, I discovered that on the other side of sadness is joy.  A sweet, gentle, unexpected joy as my heart thanked me for listening to her purely, without the masks of anger, false bravado, distraction, escape.  

Of course, I've experienced this transformation from sadness to joy for years through songwriting and music.  The art of taking an emotion and translating it into song, and then feeling the pure joy of creativity and musical expression no matter what the original source of feeling, has long been the driving force of my life, my heart, my path.  

It was nice to experience it through pure emotion though, without creating a song around my experience.  Just feeling.  I realized- Oh!  That's why Sad Songs make us Happy!  

I hope you enjoy this share.  Don't hesitate to reach out with your stories, songs, and creative musings.

xoxo

​Alison

This year I had the opportunity to be part of a monthly songwriting group.  We had the prompt of a phrase every month and the encouragement and inspiration of a monthly gathering to help us work on and finish our songs.  At the gathering we'd laugh, eat soup and bread, sit in circle, and share our songs together.

I'm a bit of a lone wolf and love creating alone in my living room.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about creating with community this way.

I loved it.  I couldn't get enough.  It was awesome to see how everyone interpreted the prompts differently and wonderful to get to know the group over the course of the year.  Here's the last prompt of 2020- "So Many Miles".  Enjoy!