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recently, just after my thirtieth birthday, i gave away 90 percent of my belongings, put the rest in storage, packed my bags and a guitar, and flew... and i wasn't sure where i would land. i went to isreal, and wound up recording an album there. i know some amazing musicians there, and i was interested in the way so many things converge there - east and west, ancient and modern, religious and secular, war and pacifism... i wanted to see how that would affect me and my music.
halfway through the recording process, i got one of the biggest surprises and blessings of my life - a little person who decided to come and grow inside of me. at a time when i was totally ungrounded, running into the arms of adventure, she has come and that changed everything.
so after all, i came full circle; i have returned to my hometown to raise my child, and after years of running around, a bit lost, i have found a reason to be grounded, because an innocent little someone needs me.
i guess all that running around was an attempt to run away from something, but i always found that the things i really wanted to run away from - my sadness and fear, my discontent and pessimism, my suffering, and pain - were inside me, and i couldn't run away from myself...
finding some freedom from those things in recent years has been an inward and not an outward journey. hopefully, i can share some of this love and joy and peace i've found in me, with you, through music. that is my rather lofty goal, but i say: if life is a dream, dream big!
the new album still needs some final touches and then to be mixed... and i still have to figure out how to balance my new role as mom with my ongoing need to make and share music. so let's see how it all works out!
♥ lauren
