The recent loss of Naomi Judd has struck me in a tender place that reaches deeper than my well-known childhood "fandom". And since I've always found refuge in words, I'm going there...
the only thing harder than leaving…
Long ago, in what feels like another life, I wrote a song about visiting back home after I'd moved to Nashville. I was an 18 year old, sitting in a writing room on Music Row with two co-writers in their late 40's, telling them how weird I felt going back to Belleville, Michigan because it... Continue Reading →
The “before” and the “after”
It's been one month in this new life. The world as I knew it - divided into a “before and “after” instantly. I’ve been searching for words beautiful enough to describe the light that always surrounded her and centered anyone in her presence. Truth is, I’ve been writing nonstop since she passed...
The florescent lighted fear.
I feel afraid of this world. If I’m being completely truthful here, nowhere feels safe to me these days and I don’t know that I want to be anywhere anymore. I’ve lived my whole life thinking that the national headlines were for the news “out there” - “in here” we are saddened by the tragedies... Continue Reading →
Window seat. (Day Five)
I'm sitting by myself in the library, my small table isolated from all humans but surrounded by books. I'm on the top floor, right alongside a large window wall overlooking the lake and all the fall colors from neighboring trees. It's so quiet that I swear I can hear the leaves rustling in the slightest... Continue Reading →
Waiting Room Writing. (Day Three/Four)
Been spending a lot of time in waiting rooms again. I haven't spent this much time on a faux leather chair with wooden armrests since my cancer treatments between Fall 2019 into early 2020. Before then, I simply never went to the doctor. So to be back in what feels like one endless stream of... Continue Reading →
Day One.
It's a Monday and it's November 1st. For whatever reason, kicking off a new month at the top of the week has always held significance for me. It's kind of like New Year's or a birthday - a reset, if you will. A chance to pay attention and not get stuck saying (once again), "Man,... Continue Reading →
The strong one + the sad one.
Confessions from a literal “bleeding heart”. It’s been hard to share pretty posts when life doesn’t feel pretty right now. So consequently, I’ve been relatively quiet on all fronts for a couple weeks now. Which is less than ideal when one has just released their first new music in a year - with more releases... Continue Reading →
My silver-lining.
*LONG, TEARFUL POST ALERT* It’s wild how stillness has the power to change so much…our world as a whole, but also the world inside the head and home you’ve been isolated within. Truthfully, I thought I’d get by this quarantine relatively unscathed. I’d just made it through cancer with my sanity still intact, so... Continue Reading →
Truce.
It's 8:15AM on a Wednesday. I'm sitting at the kitchen table, right beside our big front window with an iced coffee, our little boring street serving as the perfect morning backdrop for some writing. Straight ahead of me, our three dogs are sleeping on the couch. I keep a watchful eye on them, one in... Continue Reading →
The Reinvention Of Raye 