mid-week musings for all

 I always feel a slight sigh of relief by the time August has rolled around. The peak of summer has come and gone and, although we still have three more very hot months left in Phoenix, it is still nice to know that one is halfway through the worst of it all. It can only get better from here!

It is mid-week and I am putting forth my very best effort to remain focused on some creative goals this week, mainly in my music. I have been putting together lyrics and chord progressions for a tune I came up with on a rainy late night in July. In my usual approach to songwriting, I get inspired for a moment and, then, I depart from my snippet-of-a-song and find something else to pour the other half of my focus into. I had felt such discouragement from this terrible habit of mine earlier this week; it is a tiresome way of doing things year after year with hardly any projects to show for it. So, this evening, I managed to sit myself down and complete a little bit more on my song. I am trying to constantly bring to my mind that little steps, over the course of a long season, do produce greater fruit; it is the diligence and the patience that truly bring a completed creative result. My hope is to devote an hour or longer several nights a week to my songwriting. I have so many pieces of lyrics and progressions and melodies that I need to begin stitching them all together! On a related note, I am dubbing the song my 'Marissa-Nadler-inspired-piece' [not really. my song is actually titled Silken Lover] because I am trying to capture that dream-folk style that Marissa does so well.

Because June and July were such dry months for me in my writing endeavors, I thought to myself that, perhaps, I should be reading more to find a greater inspiration to write. So, since July, I have slowly made my way through The Poet's Guide to Life: The Wisdom of Rilke (snippets from Rainer Maria Rilke's writings and letters) and Anne of Green Gables. I had forgotten how amusing and perfect the tales of Anne Shirley truly are! It has been so rewarding to read again. Don't classics seem to get better and better the second, third, or fourth time around reading them? What books are currently on your to-read list?

Yes, this blog is partially just a rambling to hold myself accountable to my own creative goals. I. Can. Do. It!!
What creative goals are you shooting for this week/month?

This evening, I was thinking over this quotation below by Timothy Keller from his book, The Meaning of Marriage. This weekend will mark exactly 6 months as a newlywed and, every day, I am amazed and overwhelmed at how it very much will take a lifetime for me to settle into and comprehend all the mysteries entailed in covenant love. Such a relationship unearths so much within you.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” 

What quote(s) have captured your interest this week?

I depart with a snapshot of the city in the valley that I have, since birth, called my home. I have never much appreciated it and, honestly, there isn't too much to love about a city in the desert that reaches triple-digit temperatures for six months out of a year. Nevertheless, as my love and I are preparing to leave here soon, I cannot help but feel a bit melancholy to be saying goodbye.