Well hey folks, I don’t know what happened to January… or December for that matter? I think I fell down that “winter/holiday vortex”.  But today is a brand new day, in a brand new month and a close to a brand new year!  How cool, we can always start all over again.  I think sometimes we don’t realize this.

I know I come to a blank page here and the one thing I like about writing is that I can empty my head. Now and again wisdom will pop out! Ha!  It’s as if I’m riding along in my mind…doing all this “circular thinking” (round and round on the hamster wheel) and when I write…I organize those thoughts into a language.  I get to define those thoughts and through defining; I can discern, make sense, get clearer and understand perhaps what I’ve been living with, living under, overcoming or what needs more work.

For many, people believe the season for music is in the Spring/Summer.  And that is only a half truth.  Sure, we are playing and gigging hard.  We are running around the continent and putting into practice what we know. We are moving fast and seeing friends at shows.  It’s all very “outward”, very social and in some senses, it can feel like a long party. 

Yet winter allows my artist to come out from behind the curtain, in a different way.  Most who know me, experience my personality as an extrovert.  During the season of winter however, I go inward, as many do.  It’s easy in the Spring to have an outlook of a “fresh new start” right?  It’s not so much in the winter, but it does exist.  It is possible.  It is possible to select a new outlook or pick up a new set of habits that are healthier from day to day.  I get to ponder and reorganize myself in the winter.  I stop moving so fast (well…at least I can get down to 30 mph). 

In that, I’ve noticed here’s what happens.  I shake out those inner dialogues and contemplate them.  I get real with my feelings in relationships, home, community and world.  There is a lot going on and in the summer just zooms on along.  Winter, I look at it all.  I reevaluate everything…and, with any luck…I write about it. 

I wrote 2 songs in December.  Well, I should say, I finished two songs in December.  I have a box where all of my “song bones” live.  These song bones are parts and pieces of ideas or couplets for songs.  They are the fragments that haven’t come together. 

I found 2 very heart-felt ideas and explored more.  Both of these songs are a painful write.  Both of these songs waited for me to “get in the mood” to finish.  I had to be in my “winter mode”; more contemplative and reflective.  One is entitled “Only the Lucky”.  This song is about exactly the topic that I speak – “choosing all over again”, and in this case deciding to continue walking the path.  The other song is called “Joy in the Ride”.  And like the later (yet completely different) it tells a story someone overcoming a burned out situation, again choosing with “new eyes”. 

How can we be in the same situation, yet look at it differently?  What are the inner workings of that?  How can we select to see our careers, friendships, and partners, world and dare I say politics…with NEW EYES?  I think we all get tired of seeing and watching the same thing over and over again, especially when it’s not so favorable.

This is where IMAGINATION is paramount!  John Lennon was no fool!  We DO have to imagine our world, lives, career and relationships with fortitude and find space to live into something good.  This is where new songs arrive for me and perhaps for you…a new lease on life?  Something to ponder: “What in your life may need a fresh look?” “How does winter present itself to you?” “Are you introverted or extroverted in the seasons of the year?” “What does winter do or mean to you?”  “What new habit would you like to embark upon this year (thinking habits count too)?” 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your “winter mode”. 

Much love to all,

Niccole Blaze