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 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 →
Two years today.
Two years ago today I set my alarm for 6AM, waking up earlier than anyone in the house. I quietly crept downstairs to my "office", sat in my cheetah print reading chair in the corner, journal in lap. I knew I had 30 minutes, at most, to take a moment for myself to start my... 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 →
Words of love. (Day Two)
Believe it or not, I've always had a hard time communicating on a vulnerable level. I have no problem expressing myself in my songwriting or while up on stage. I easily vent about my frustrations or gossip about the latest happenings when sitting down with a friend. Lord knows I can literally talk the paint... Continue Reading →
Expand.
Woman. The word itself stands alone. It is powerful. It is big and bold, encompassing every ounce of the spectrum. We feel. We know. And our days never lack in navigating when’s an appropriate time to 'feel' and when it's time to 'know'. During this pandemic, there were weeks I felt I was floating in... Continue Reading →
To begin.
Daily meditations, yoga stretches, long walks, a good book - I do these things to quiet my thoughts and center. But now, I'm being asked to hold a magnifying glass over my thoughts and memories every morning, and then re-center myself from where ever the chapter/exercise took me? And I'm doing this voluntarily? Correct.
Raye’s Read for May 2020!
Hey everybody! Quarantine 2020 has made us all work to find ways to feel sane and centered. I don't know about you, but it's been a struggle for me to remain in a good headspace the last few weeks. I've been constantly grappling with the reality that my big music releases and performances are postponed... Continue Reading →
The breather.
I willingly woke up at 6:30am this morning. And as the orange glow filtered in through my kitchen blinds, it made me take pause as I mixed my celery powder into 8 ounces of water. (Don't even ask, ha.) I took a photo, as proof to myself (and to document on Instagram Story) that I... Continue Reading →
The first.
I've sat down to write this more than a handful of times over the last week or so, trying to share some recent and sensitive news with everyone. Every time, I carve out an hour and I just start to type. And every time, my free-flow of emotions settle differently, my "message" varying with each... Continue Reading →