To The Light

www.amatierra.com Think it’s crazy to decide on a Monday to go to Central America on Friday for the weekend? Me too. But then I did it anyway. Here’s why… I was in that grey place. I’d been in it for a while. It didn’t matter that I did my morning meditation, or that I took […]

(Lincoln logs courtesy of my daughter Helen, age 2)  My first husband was an architect. We talked endlessly about public spaces that were created with people in mind – with the idea that people would enjoy themselves in them – from the curving stone paths of Rome (& piazzas where folks sip espresso while admiring […]

When I was little, I’d draw pictures of people with different colored hair (purple, blue, green) and I remember the specific moment it occurred to me that it wasn’t “correct” to draw them this way because people don’t actually have purple hair (well, in those days they didn’t ;)). I felt sad and it was […]

I recently announced that I have some exciting news so here it is! (I’m going to be sharing my song recipes and I have an invitation for you so read on…. :)) Some of you are music fans, some of you enjoy songwriting for enjoyment & expression and a handful of you have devoted your […]

Last Monday, on All Souls Day, I was thinking about my grandpa (“Moose” we called him) and how he always wanted to write songs. He had no extensive musical training though he loved a great melody and played a decent clarinet in the Army during WWII. He once told me that he went to New […]

Last June, I took a big financial leap and hired a coach to help me with a project. I didn’t tell anyone except my husband because I thought people would think I was crazy to spend so much. It was a huge investment (2-3x the cost of a really nice family vacation -wow!) but I […]

The other day, I left my house to drive to my first eye exam in many years. I typed the ophthalmologist’s office address into my phone GPS and 20 minute later, Google Maps informed me I’d “reached my destination,” although, in fact, I had not because I was facing an empty grass field 🙂 I […]

Last week, I was teaching songwriting to high school age songwriters at Interlochen Camp for the Arts and I was elated to watch them writing each day, sometimes working on up to three songs in a day. I promised myself that in this inspired environment, I would not only teach, but also set aside some […]

Today I was having a little trouble writing something and I started to feel frustrated. I had done some yoga when I woke up, look but bypassed my morning walk even though I craved one because I told myself there wasn’t enough time. That’s where I first got off my path. In my heart of […]

There is something about the month of May, when buds open into flowers & ice turns to water flowing speedily down the mountains that reminds me how good it can feel to change. A woman recently shared with me that for much of her life she considered herself “the uninteresting one” in her family. She […]