Little Leaps

"The moment I jumped off of it was

the moment I touched down"

- from Thank You by Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette

Listen. I want to tell you something. I want to talk about leaping. I have been thinking about it a lot this month because, of course, it's Leap Year and this is the month with one extra day. I want to talk about it because I’m not as brave as I’d like to be. But let’s just talk about it. We don't have to do anything drastic. Let’s get some coffee and discuss:     

The concept of leaping - making the leap, taking the chance - is something that sounds soo noble. So worthy. Soo…….I wanna do it.


After Steve Jobs passed away, I started reading all these great, inspiring quotes of things he had said - about just this sort of thing.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Steve Jobs

The longer I live, the more I feel a sense of urgency about making those leaps and taking risks.
I aspire to Leap. I want to be a Risk Taker.
But in truth, I am a Dreamer of Leaps.
In these dreams I am brave.  I have vision. I have clarity.


Making a leap sounds like making a big change. A risky, big change. You don’t really know how it’s going to turn out so you have to just go for it. On the other hand, you don’t want to be stupid about it and go off the deep end. Or so the voice in my head keeps telling me. Take for example,  that woman who calls herself the Naked Cowgirl and plays her guitar in Times Square. Now, what happened there? Did she just wake up one day and say, ‘I am CHUCKing it all to become the Naked Cowgirl! I have found my life’s calling!”  

photo by james messerschmidt, ny times

Naked Cowboy vs. Naked Cowgirl in Times Square - NYPOST.com

It would be nice to get some clear signs – like a telephone call or “Leap Notice” but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. I think the key lies in listening to that inner voice, and really trusting what your heart wants. “Stand in your truth” a friend used to say to me. I guess if that means your truth is becoming a naked cowgirl, then who am I to argue?


In case you – like me - find it hard to make a daring leap, I have devised a compromise.  I take little leaps. Even with little leaps, after a time, I can look back over my shoulder and see that I have put distance between where I was and where I am. And maybe someday, I’ll make the Big One………….
More coffee, please.



Co-Writing: Not For Sissies or Wood-Nymphs

If you hang out with other songwriters, sooner or later the suggestion to co-write will come up. This fascination with co-writing used to completely mystify me, and repel me all at once. My friends would take on a soft, rosy glow as they spoke of it. They would get all dewy-eyed and clutch their hearts and speak of how it changed their lives. But it felt contrary to my process and my instincts. I wanted nothing to do with it!

I’ve co-written a couple of times at workshops, and it was hard for me. I’m stubborn and I always want to use the lines I write. I am not the queen of compromise. But I’ve been feeling like maybe I should try it more, because I think trying things that are outside of my comfort zone can help me grow as an artist.

My process for writing is normally very unstructured.  Picture someone sitting in their jammies, guitar in hand, laptop open. When I’m working on a song lyric, I usually get to a point where I am stuck. I might have to get up and walk around for a while, and disconnect from it until a line mystically travels through several distant galaxies and breaks through the ozone to trickle down into my head. YES!  I have always been willing to wait days, weeks, months – YEARS for the right word or line to take its rightful place in a song.

But when you co-write, such a process will not do. It will not do at all. Instead, one must employ discipline (ugh, hateful word). Discipline! Pah! I am a gypsy! A wood nymph! A forest sprite! I dance through the woods, gathering my words on gossamer pages! I cannot be shackled or fettered, or tied down to such a restricting practice!

Co-writing – I have discovered – is not for sissies. In addition to discipline, it requires immense courage. You’re vulnerable. It’s scary to go out on a limb with a line, knowing that someone can whip out their chainsaw and cut it off, sending you crashing to the ground. And for me, it’s hard to be diplomatic and nice and not grab my own chainsaw too often.

More importantly, it takes practice. If you want to get better at it, you have to keep working at it, keep trying. I just completed a co-write on one of the songs for my CD project.  It didn’t feel natural. I had to struggle. I had to wear my regular clothes and not my pajamas. But I hung in there, and the song is going to be better for it – a stronger song. And THAT is the best reason to consider a co-write.