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Welcome (or welcome back) to my Singermommy blog!
I started this website back in 2016 when I was trying to figure out how to navigate my new-ish role of mommy, alongside that of my longtime existing roles as singer/songwriter/musician/artist/voice teacher/wife. Mommying clearly took over, and my blog posts and interviews were few and far between, but I will say that I am proud of the interviews! I wanted to gain perspective and wisdom from other singermommies, so I chatted with Grammy Award Winning artist / mothering goddess Paula Cole, and Best-selling author, musician, one-half-of the Dresden Dolls, Amanda Palmer. I was comforted by them in knowing that no matter the level of success, a lot of the struggles are the same when it comes to mommying, singing, and simply just being a person.
Fast forward 6 or 7 years, through lots of hard mommying, a sprinkle of low-key gigs, moments of trying to get my voice back in shape, and then maintaining that shape, a pandemic with lots and lots of remote teaching (which is so hard on my voice!), a handful of released songs, learning to record my own vocals in my basement, and so much more.... the Singermommy blog took a back seat. Don't get me wrong... when I am commuting to Berklee from the suburbs, walking through the Copley and Prudential malls on my way to teach for 6 hours, I get little lightbulbs over my head and think to myslef, "I should write that down for a blog entry". ... and then life and teaching happens, and it doesn't get written.
So here I am. 20-freaking-23. And I still feel drawn to do this blog, and to see where it goes. I'm a sucker for the calendar change, for goal and intention-setting and for renewed commitment. I've been reading and re-reading a lot of books that help ignite my fire, and one of those books is, of course, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about "creative entitlement", which I have struggled with A LOT in my life. I believe it's one of the things that has held me back a bit. I think self-esteem goes right alongside creative entitlement. Having the self esteem and the courage to create isn't a given for me. It takes work and a lot of silencing of the little imaginary nagging bitches on my shoulder who tell me that I'm not good enough, and won't ever be. Elizabeth Gilbert writes, "...creative entitlement simply means believing that you are allowed to be here and that --merely by being here--you are allowed to have a voice and a vision of your own." Damn. I still get choked up reading that. She goes on to write, "...Without 'creative arrogance', you will never push yourself out of the suffocating insulation of personal safety and into the frontiers of the beautiful and the unexpected. The arrogance of belonging is not about egotism or self-absorption. In a strange way, it's the opposite; it is a divine force that will actually take you out of yourself and allow you to engage more fully with life." Oh, there is so much more of that book that I want to share, but you should probably just read the whole thing on your own. It's reached bible-status over here.
My purpose for creating content on here is to lean into living more of an "enchanted life" (another Elizabeth Gilbert-ism), where creativity can happen and occur in the seemingly mundane tasks of life. I want to share those moments, I want to share my art with you (songs!), I want to share some frustrations around living a balanced life (I promise this won't become a bitch-fest), I want to share some singing tips and observations, I want to share something cool I made for dinner, I want to share interviews of creative people who do their best to live an "enchanted life". I want this to be a space for me to share myself without feeling the exhibitionist feeling I get if I share anything personal on social media. The difference with me sharing myself here is that you choose to come here and take it in. I feel better about that. (there's that lack of creative entitlement showing itself again!) Some weeks my entries might be longer-winded, and sometimes they might just be a photo of a book I'm reading that has inspired me. Sometimes they will be relevant to you, and maybe sometimes they won't. Overall, this is a blog to help me get some stuff off my chest, the good, the bad, the pretty, the ugly, the songs, the singing, and the entitlement of just being here.
Thanks so much for reading and hanging out with me,
Kristin-
If you know someone who might like to follow my blog, please share! Also check out my previous posts with music, interviews and photos. Over time, with some further diving into the templates and technical stuff on here, the layouts will get more creative. Until then...it's kinda Flintstones. Working on it! xoxo