Tonight, there’s a -35 wind chill in Rockford, Illinois.  If you live in this region, I hope you’re safe and warm. 

I played my first show of 2024 yesterday at Anderson Gardens.  It was -9 outside, and I wasn’t looking forward to loading up in the cold. But the venue was full of kind people, and I was playing in the sunshine, and by the end of the show, I was almost sweating.  And I was happier than I’ve been in a long time.

Because it was a three-hour gig, I dusted off some of my older songs to fill out the set. I don’t usually play the old tunes; they historically make me cringe.  But yesterday, they did the opposite.  I loved them again.  They didn’t sound bad to me at all.  And I had a revelation: they were always good tunes…I just needed to give myself some space from them to see them in a good light again.

Reader, if there’s something you’ve made or are working on that’s making you feel the blehs, don’t forget the power of walking away from it for a while.  Sometimes we need to see our creations at a different time and in a different place (and apparently at a much colder temperature) to appreciate them again. 

Wishing you a week of warmth.  Be kind to your mind.  See you next Monday. -Em