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1. Dancing with Moonlight
The Spirit of Nature speaks through me in this song. I went to Point Reyes National Seashore as the sun was setting and watched the sky fade from orange to violet into pale lavender and then dark. I walked alone on the beach and became energized by the ocean air and brisk evening air, the sounds of crickets, birds and wind, and felt deep solitude as the darkness settled around me. Then gradually the landscape became illuminated by a large and low full moon coming up on the ridge behind me. I felt the presence of something alive and conscious there with me - playing, guiding, communicating. I felt my prayers answered, my fears nurtured and healed, my sadness acknowledged and lifted, my creativity inspired and my sense of awe at the beauty of nature ignited to a new degree.
2. Highway
I spent many days and nights driving the highways of America by myself in a Ryder truck, while working as a merchandiser on concert tours. Being somewhat rebellious by nature and drawn to nonconformist lifestyles, working on the road was very alluring. Traveling has always fit very well with my temperament and driving miles and miles by myself gave me a sense of freedom and fertilized my creative self-expression.
3. Anything is Possible
I love to hike into the twilight hours. At this time of day I usually have the trails to myself and the transition from light to dark feels like a magical and powerful time - a time for visioning, wishing, dreaming, planting seeds. And since I believe in faeries and nature spirits, I believe that this time of pale light is when they come out to play and when assistance from other worlds is most accessible. Written from the perspective of a faery queen, she laments the limited viewpoint of humans, many of whom think that their physical reality is all there is.
4. If I Showed you Everything
Oh Ian, such a mysterious one. He asked me many an odd and perplexing question, but I liked his curiosity. One day as we were hugging against a redwood tree, he asked "I wonder if I showed you everything, if I could become you for a minute?" At first I thought this was a strange thing to say, but as his words rolled around in my brain for a few days, this song began to take shape. Ian soon disappeared without showing me much, but I thank him kindly for the song title.
5. The Blank Rune
These lyrics are adapted from "The Book of Runes" by Ralph Blum. Rune stones are an ancient tool for divination, similar to the Tarot or the I Ching. I went through a period of consulting the Runes and drawing the Blank Rune over and over, which basically says "you're not supposed to know right now" - standby for further instructions. It is the Rune of total trust and faith and tells that the Unknowable is in motion in your life, yet within that blankness is held undiluted potential.
6. New Year's Angel
All I knew was his name and yet we spent hours dancing, bodies close, moving in rhythm. I felt like I knew him, and yet I didn't. How could I let myself enjoy this time so much and then say good-bye with no attachment? I wondered if he would try to find me later, but I never saw him again.
7. Wait and See
This grew out of a songwriting assignment to write about my philosophy of life. I believe that each moment is full of possibility and that everything we create for ourselves is based on a choice we make. It's such an exciting mystery to see how life will unfold - sometimes I wish I could know how it will all turn out, but I also know that all we really have is the present moment.
8. Engaged to a Stranger
Have you ever stayed with someone long after you knew the relationship was not healthy anymore? Or maybe it was never healthy but you got involved anyway for some reason? This one was particularly painful because I was competing with an addiction, and finally had to walk away.
9. New Mexico
Doesn't every artist have to experience being a food server at some point during their career? Maybe not, but I did, and I found myself constantly daydreaming about places I would rather be like driving through New Mexico or lying in a lush green meadow. I believe that you can create whatever you can clearly visualize in your mind's eye.
10. Pick up the Pieces
Another relationship that didn't work out. This song had its original incarnation in 1992, co-written by Juliette Jones. It evolved over the years and became a summary of multiple breakups. A drinking song.
11. Personal Love
My survey tells me that women have lists and men don't for the most part. Maybe they just don't talk about it as openly. If the personal ads are any indication of what people want, this world is a pretty funny place.
12. Tomorrow
One of my first songs, written by adding music to a poem. It reminds me of standing on top of Mt. Tamalpais looking out at the Pacific Ocean at sunset, breathing in a blissful moment of simple truth.
13. I Have Walked on Fire
In December of 1998 I went through a seven-day Fire Initiation Training where we used firewalking as a tool for re-programming our beliefs about what?s possible. My spirit became more exuberant and activated and aligned as the week went on and afterwards this song spontaneously emerged. I usually end my shows with this song.
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