Hello friends! I am going to be on a webinar tomorrow, telling my story about my journey of mental, emotional and physical health over the last decade. If you’d like to join us, click on the link below. 7pst tomorrow night.
From my sister, Emily Shill of Shillmed:
“For anyone who knows and loves my sister Laura, she has graciously agreed to be my guest speaker on our webinar tomorrow night (7 pm). Our topic this month is self-care, and she has agreed to share her amazing story of overcoming significant health challenges, and achieving her best possible mental, emotional and physical health. I’ve already read her outline and she has some amazing insights to share. We would love for friends to join us!”
Hello friends! Hope you are having a great kickoff to your week! Today I finished my Creation! Literally! I wrote a song called Creation, as I referred to last post, and here it is! I have previously gotten so bogged down in the creative process that I’m trying to go as simple as I can and still get my message across. Today it’s all about the process of creating.
The most helpful thing I discovered recently is that writing music is a lot like going to the gym to work out. I have a new gym membership so instead of being part of the Core 620 classes 3x/week, I am going to a gym and choosing what to do. Every time I go, I need to make time to warm up so I don’t require my muscles to get up and going in 10 seconds flat, I need some time to get a good workout, and I need some time to cool down and stretch. I’ve realized that I can use this same template for writing music. Warm-up. Workout. Cool-down. I can’t expect my brain to just get in gear in 10 seconds and go hard for hours. I can play around with what warms up my creativity, gradually move into deeper work, and then cool down with something inspiring, or journalling, or walking to think about what I’ve been working on…etc. I’m hopeful that I can get into a really consistent routine this summer, writing/editing/recording about an hour a day. We’ll see how it goes!
This recording was done on my phone so you actually can’t hear the lyrics real well. Maybe I’ll do a nice recording with my new microphone later. Maybe not. Either way, you can follow along with the words on the sheet music if you’d like!
Dandelions. I can see them out my window as I type. They could ruin my day. The yard is full of them, and they’re technically a pest. Are they, though? The other day, someone told me that the dandelions remind her of Switzerland. I’ve been to Switzerland, and it was beautiful. And I love that way of looking at it. Perhaps one of these days I’ll kill off those dandelions and my grass will be free of weeds (temporarily). Until then, I’m going to enjoy my view that reminds me of Switzerland.
Recently, we said goodbye-for-now to an amazing man. He left too early, and many mourn his loss. He is my big brother (in-law). His name is Mike Harper. There are so many things I could tell you about him, from his deep love and commitment to his family, to his profession in dentistry, to his ability to encourage everyone around him…there is much to say, but words don’t really feel adequate to express what I feel. Since music tends to come a little closer, I decided to write a song. I look forward to seeing him again- hearing his laugh, getting a big Mike hug, catching up…
A few nights ago, my sweetheart and I were getting some pillow talk in at the end of a week day. He told me about a talk he had listened to by a previous president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (President Kimball) who had quoted Caleb in the Old Testament saying “Give me this mountain.” Caleb was 84 years old and was going into battle to claim the promised land with God’s help. President Kimball talked about his own challenges and said that he feels the same way about them. Give me this mountain- this hard thing- so I can grow and become who I am meant to become. Our discussion that night centered around what we would say to God. Perhaps “Give me a molehill- one I can easily jump over and make sure I retain control during it. Not something too hard.” Or maybe even “I’d rather have a back massage- could you give me one of those?” That one made us chuckle, but really, that’s often times what I’d prefer! A nice temperature, a relaxing back massage, no strain, no struggle…
And yet ultimately, sitting on the couch and eating potato chips has never gotten anyone in shape. Our bodies, minds and spirits need work to continue progressing in the right direction! I don’t feel like I need to ask for more hard things in my life, but I do want to have the humility to accept challenges with that attitude. I can do hard things because God will help me and in the process I will become a better me. It would reduce the friction and resistance, and increase my courage and confidence to try again when it’s difficult.
MELODIES OF LIGHT 