Hi beautiful friends,
I hope you had a wonderful month of May! I meant to post this last month in honor of Mental Wellness Month” but as we moved to San Francisco, things were a little tumultuous to say the least 😉 …
These days, I LOVE the month of May but it wasn’t always that way. For years, I used to get extremely depressed in May. Biochemically it was not a good month for me. I would feel ungrounded, depressed and sometimes like I couldn’t even move. In fact, in May 2005, I could not stop crying for more than a few hours at a time so I went to a psychiatrist who asked me how many good days I had out of 7. My answer was 1 (or 3 days at the most). He seemed to think that was not very many good days. I, on the other hand, was quite accustomed to it, but agreed it would be better to have more good days.
The song “The Alchemist” is actually based, in part, on how I found my way out of this state (I was open to and pursued every avenue: a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a healer, praying in empty Catholic churches 😉 and starting my meditation practice). And, as always, I used creativity and songwriting as a tool to keep myself afloat.
I am VERY glad to say that some combination of these things worked and for many years now all my days are good (7 out of 7). Even when I’m sad or experiencing unpleasant emotions, my days are still are all good days. And much of my experience during that time turned into the album that is Blazing Red. And now, songwriting and creativity is more of a humorous and thriving practice for me instead of a survival one. For that, I am grateful. So, in honor of mental wellness this May (even though I’m late and posting it in June 😉 Lol), I just want to put it out there that even though (from what I can tell), most of the people on this email list seem quite happy, just in case even one of you is not, you never know how you’ll feel 6 months or a year from now so it’s totally worth taking any steps on behalf of your own happiness that occur to you! Don’t wait! 🙂
Wishing you beautiful, joyous and spectacular days!
Love,
Anne
Ps: This week, I’m playing shows in Ann Arbor, Indianapolis and Cambridge. In July, San Francisco and in August, Minneapolis. I would LOVE to see you at a show! All the details are here: http://www.anneheaton.com/tour
Ps2: Please enjoy this Creativity Tip video! I DO love these specific tips(!) although the video makes me laugh a little at myself because I’m speaking so quietly because it’s 6:30am and I haven’t had my coffee yet! Ha ha.
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