Brene Brown has become a hero to many of us, inviting us to live with vulnerability and courage in telling our stories. If you haven’t heard her before, here is a link to her work: Brene Brown
It is easier said than done to be vulnerable and courageous in telling our stories but as I am about to embark on releasing this new album, i am she..a soul’s journey home, it is my desire to allow you to see my heart behind the scenes of this creative work.
And so I will begin to share more of the stories behind this journey called, ‘ i am she’.
Perhaps to tell you my story I need to tell you another story. There is a story in the gospels that is about a bent-over woman. She was sick and was on the outside of the temple where Jesus was teaching. The women and the children were always on the outside. And in those days, if a woman was sick, then she was even further removed. This woman was so sick she was bent over and had been bent over for a very long time.
Jesus was teaching in a circle of men as was common in that day and time and by law was not allowed to address a woman, look at a woman in the eye, or touch her. On that day, he noticed beyond the circle of men and beyond the further circle of women and children, this woman who was bent over. And then this radical Love flowed through him that gave him the courage to break the laws of his day. He called to this woman to come right into the circle of men. He looked at her, he lay his hands on her and then he healed her. He named her and set her free. He created chaos that day with his actions – but those actions resonate today with my own heart about what the Presence of Love has done for me.
I too was a bent-over woman. I felt as a woman disregarded especially in the areas of my heart that beat with passion and life. I felt ashamed of who I was and wished my life was different. I too felt invisible and on the edges of life. My healing hasn’t happened all on one day – it has been a series of encounters with the Presence of Love over the past 15 years – where I have tasted being seen, being known, being healed, being named and being invited to live. I have many stories to tell of these encounters. But these encounters have birthed the songs of my heart. I sing because of this Love I have known. I sing because Love called me and invited me to stand tall and be no longer the bent-over woman.
Love invites me to be present in the centre of life, Love invites me to stand and to take my place in the community. Love invites me to contribute who I am without shame.
this is my journey and these are my songs.
