Mark Schultz is an amazing singer. His songs tell powerful stories that always move me to tears. This one’s been playing in my car recently.
If that song touched your heart, Rebecca Enzor posted another of his songs, “Letters From War,” on her blog if you’d like to check it out.
What’s the last song that moved you to tears because of its message? What’s your favorite song that tells a story? I love hearing from you!
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For the rest of September, everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing to win a free e-book copy of Elemental Magic when it releases in October. Five winners will be selected.
Aileen Donovan wants nothing more than recognition as an elemental scientist by her supernatural community. What better way to do that than to solve a mystery involving a power-hungry alchemist, hallucinogenic coral, and a homicidal sea dragon? The hardest part will be working with Coast Guard officer Colin Benson—until the tides turn, and Aileen realizes that love and duty may not have to be mutually exclusive.
It’s Friday Fancies over here and I’ve got music and singing for you–only this type of singing doesn’t use pitch and tone. This video is a beautiful ASL interpretation of Katy Perry’s song “Firework.” Some people think American Sign Language is just English on the hands, but it is its own language. It has its own structure and grammatical rules. Sometimes there are signs that correspond with English words; often there are not. (That’s what makes being an interpreter so fun and challenging!)
Have you seen ASL before? Even if you don’t know the language, were you able to feel the emotion from the signer? I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend everybody!
It’s Move Me Monday and we’re going to look at the power of music.
In general, music is fun and enjoyable, but every so often a song pierces your heart or resonates with your soul, as though the strings of your life hum at the same frequency. When that song plays, the world melts away and it feels like your spirit sprouts wings and could burst out of your chest.
Without even trying, music finds a way to hallmark major points in our lives. From thereafter, that song will forever bring forth memories of that moment, that place, keeping those memories alive and rekindling those feelings.
I first started battling depression in fourth grade. I was a kid with a ton of health problems, and being sick all the time doesn’t lend itself to positive emotions. How could I communicate what I was feeling? There were no plain words to describe the deep, gut wrenching emotions I felt.
Music gave me that outlet. The lyrics combined with the perfect chords released the floodgates of what was bottled up and let it all rush out. It’s important to experience your emotions, even the bad ones, so they don’t stay compressed and festering.
There was one song that helped me survive those moments of intense pain and despair: “Crash and Burn” by Savage Garden. I put my headphones on, hit repeat, turned up the volume, and drowned in that song.
Some people might think it’s not good to indulge those feelings, but ignoring them doesn’t make them go away. I welcomed them, sat with them, and when the music shut off, I returned to life, able to breathe just a little easier. (This song even promised me that: “There has always been heartache and pain, but when it’s over you’ll breathe again.”)
Whenever I listen to that song, I remember how it helped me survive. It doesn’t bring up old feelings of despair or sadness; it just reminds me of where I was so I never forget. My battle with depression is over (a story I think I’ll share on another Move Me Monday), but my love of this song will always be tied to the power it had, giving the deepest, darkest part of me a voice when I needed it most.
Is there a song that unlocked the gate to intense emotions you didn’t know how to express? Is there a song that helped you survive your teen years? I love hearing from you!
You can also find me on Mistress Suzie’s blog today with another flash fiction episode of the Adventures of Teagan.
I was listening to some old CDs recently and came across “Baby Girl” by Sugarland. I’m not a country music girl, but I love the story of this song. Change the parts about singing to writing, and it’s pretty much my life right now.
I have big dreams for being a best-selling author. Along with that, though, I have dreams of giving back to my mom after all the support she’s given me. We don’t have a traditional mother/daughter relationship. We’re best friends. Even if there wasn’t a financial need, I think we would still live together. I love hanging out with her. We watch movies and TV together. (We both even read books *while* we’re watching TV.) The two of us go out to eat (I never go by myself). We’re both known at our favorite restaurant, and the guy who usually serves us has our typical orders memorized. We go to church together, and go on mini vacations to the beach or San Francisco together.
This probably would have been a good Mother’s Day post, but I wasn’t blogging at that time. I love my mom, and I’m grateful for all the support she’s given me over the years in life, love, and writing. Do I want my dreams of publishing to come true for me? Most definitely. But I also want them to come true for her.
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In Tangled, Rapunzel’s dream was to see the floating lanterns. After she made it, she knew she’d need to find a new dream (cough nudge handsome thief over there). Life’s better with big dreams. When you finally get everything you’ve been dreaming of, don’t settle.
What will my next big dream be? When I was younger it was to buy a castle in Scotland. Seriously though, I don’t know yet. There are things I’d like to do, but they’re small at the moment. Who knows, maybe when I need that new dream, those small things will blossom into huge, wonderful ideas. The creative Muse is very out-spoken, after all. 😉
What are your big dreams? What do you think you’ll do after you reach them? For those of you who have had dreams come true, what were they, and what are your dreams now?
Angela Wallace, Author 