Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how much music has been a big part of my life. It’s been the biggest part of my life for more than half my life and helped me navigate my teenage years to early adult years and gave me something to fully dive myself into, instead of boys, relationships, jobs, or mindless activities. I fell in love with this thing. And lately, I’ve been struggling with what to do with it all, where to go with it all, and how to grapple with how much I love this thing while still trying to maintain and sustain my life.

I think there’s a nostalgia for the old times. For old music, for music of our youth, for “when we were young” before life got hard and our worlds got turned upside down and society continued to show us more and more of its true colors, and we’re scared as hell.

I’ve always fought against anything that made me feel enslaved to any sort of system. And for the lightest of us with the purest of intentions, surviving in this world or industry can take its toll.

Whenever times got tough, I looked inward. I sat in silence. I listened to my breath. I tuned out all the noise. And I looked within.

I’ve dived into writing, blogging, and playing since I was 13 on here. I took my writing to interview those who inspired me, highlight what resonated with me, and build some sort of community and connection. And it all led me here.

I think when we quiet everything around us, our voices become that much easier for us to hear. We can listen to our intuition, before any outside judgment comes into play. And we can hear our innermost truths and desires come to life.

Music. Connection. Community. Simplicity. Travel. Joy. Presence. These are things that have made me my happiest and are things I continue to live by. I believe that those are all things we really want out of life. And in an age of “digital burnout” where we’re just trying to stay ahead and keep up with making our art, producing our music, or sharing our lives and stories, we think, “What’s the point?”

Well this is exactly it. This.

As another artist wrote me:

“Isolation is an illusion, we are in this together. Keep letting yourself be seen and your truth be heard” 🦋

With love and honesty,

Rachel