I was at the church today, between mentoring and teaching voice, resting a bit since I felt very tired (as it turns out, free pancake day at IHOP for mardi gras + no wednesday workout = a very tired Melody Joy).
As I rested, my thoughts turned to a "song" I had started jotting down the other day. Just words, I really had no rhythm in mind when I wrote it...I pulled it out of my purse and it happened. Suddenly I'm humming and then singing...the tune played itself across my mind before I could even begin to fully conceive of it. Then, I finished the words and started plunking the notes out on the keyboard (to give me a head start for writing it on staff paper later, I plunked out the melody while writing the letter notes on the notebook sheet, right next to the lyrics). I thought this was a great plan, because I have very little focus for getting songs written out on staff paper, and I think that removing one step (the plunking) from that process will make it more efficient. So I am splitting the work up in such a way that I will not forget the tune by the time I write it down, but neither will I wear myself out trying to write it down.
I had a little extra time, anyway, since by the time I was about halfway through my voice student's mother called to tell me they had to cancel. The poor girl had a nosebleed! Those used to really scare me when I was younger. And frankly, all the vibrating that occurs in the sinuses during a voice lesson is probably not a great post-bleed stimuli. Relapses are less than pleasant.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the song. Just in case it matters to anyone: Key of D, 6/8 time, starts on the third beat. Since it is being read and not heard, I wanted to set it up to be "heard" as well as possible.
Skin
by Melody Joy
I want to flow freely
From all that is in me
But a barrier remains
Fighting the passion in these veins
And it is all over
All over me
More than reigning me in
It stifles
It strangles, it
Chokes with fear
It strands me here
Standing next to You
Trapped in my skin
I can't make it feel right
And I can't make it look right
And it is not right
It's all over me
More than reigning me in
It stifles
It strangles, it
Chokes with fear
It strands me here
And I strive to draw
Closer to You
And I don't know how
But I'll let you through
As I let You
Help me stop trying
This anxiousness
Is steadily dying
And I
Am strangely at home
With you in my skin
And Your peace is all over
It's all over me
More than soothing my soul
It strengthens
Emboldens, it
Drives all fear
Away from here.
© Melody Joy Music, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Overslept - but still feeling productive!
I was supposed to wake up at 7 this morning...I did, just to briefly turn off our yogurt maker and stick the yogurt in the fridge, but then I went back to bed "just for 30 more minutes," and woke up at 9:oo! apparently I was more tired than I knew.
I have a lot on my plate this morning, but I've gotten so much done that I decided on a small break for blogging. At 9 I immediately set about the task of turning my yogurt into cream cheese. I found this very interesting blog from a woman on the west coast who is doing many of the same projects I am. She is, it would seem, just a year or so ahead of me, and so I have turned her into my dairy resource. I get the benefit of reading about what she liked and disliked as for results and it saves me a lot of trial and error :) Her blog covers a wide range of topics, but I linked the cultured dairy page. I pretty much just read from her dairy and natural foods entries. But I digress.
So I started with getting the yogurt-to-cream cheese going and after a quick breakfast (homemade bread toasted, with Nutella. Mmmmm) got started on de-cluttering the living room. We have a small apartment so it is tough to keep the one central area de-cluttered. But that is the first phase in scrubbing our apartment from top to bottom this weekend. Monday is apartment inspection time, which means that aside from being clean, things have to be super-clean.
I try, when setting about a huge task, to allow my A.D.D. some room in the process. It can be pretty exhausting for me to try force my thoughts into a more focused place for a long time, so if I do it the way it comes naturally, I find I get a lot more done. One of the best lessons I've learned in recent years is that I do NOT have to do things the way that "all the others" do them. Anyway, that is the main reason for a blogging break, and also the reason for another interesting phenomenon...
"De-cluttering" the living room is only about half-done. The upstairs bathroom, on the other hand, is sparkling, and I have TWO loads of laundry going, and have started the downstairs bathroom. The kitchen I'm leaving for later. If I put away all the clean dishes, and rinse and stack the dirty ones, I know my wonderful husband will wash the dishes while I am away at the NEXT thing on my agenda.
I am going to talk to a new friend of mine about BEESWAX! Mostly, I want to look at all kinds of skin care remedies that I can make at home (including those involving beeswax), and this IS the lady to talk to. Not onlyis she unafraid of experimenting with recipes, she already has several tried and true ones set in place. So...off I go to get ideas.
Jeff may have a new job soon, and while initially I was really bummed out to find that it would take up his Saturdays, at the moment I'm realizing that I can use my Saturdays for a number of things such as getting caught up on housework, studying Scripture and writing / songwriting out of that time, spending more time in intercession. I have been really feeling God pressing me that He has some things in store for Jeff and I that are really great, but will definitely require our being ready. I'm excited about that, but this is all I'm going to say on it for now. My primary problem in following God's will is that I start trying to get three steps ahead of Him and figuring out where He's going. This blog could easily become a vehicle for that if I let it, and that is not what I want. I will say I feel pressed to invest myself on all fronts: sermons, songs, and intercession.
I have gotten so much done in just 2 ish hours of work....and that makes me very happy. There is, however, a lot more to do! Bye for now!
I have a lot on my plate this morning, but I've gotten so much done that I decided on a small break for blogging. At 9 I immediately set about the task of turning my yogurt into cream cheese. I found this very interesting blog from a woman on the west coast who is doing many of the same projects I am. She is, it would seem, just a year or so ahead of me, and so I have turned her into my dairy resource. I get the benefit of reading about what she liked and disliked as for results and it saves me a lot of trial and error :) Her blog covers a wide range of topics, but I linked the cultured dairy page. I pretty much just read from her dairy and natural foods entries. But I digress.
So I started with getting the yogurt-to-cream cheese going and after a quick breakfast (homemade bread toasted, with Nutella. Mmmmm) got started on de-cluttering the living room. We have a small apartment so it is tough to keep the one central area de-cluttered. But that is the first phase in scrubbing our apartment from top to bottom this weekend. Monday is apartment inspection time, which means that aside from being clean, things have to be super-clean.
I try, when setting about a huge task, to allow my A.D.D. some room in the process. It can be pretty exhausting for me to try force my thoughts into a more focused place for a long time, so if I do it the way it comes naturally, I find I get a lot more done. One of the best lessons I've learned in recent years is that I do NOT have to do things the way that "all the others" do them. Anyway, that is the main reason for a blogging break, and also the reason for another interesting phenomenon...
"De-cluttering" the living room is only about half-done. The upstairs bathroom, on the other hand, is sparkling, and I have TWO loads of laundry going, and have started the downstairs bathroom. The kitchen I'm leaving for later. If I put away all the clean dishes, and rinse and stack the dirty ones, I know my wonderful husband will wash the dishes while I am away at the NEXT thing on my agenda.
I am going to talk to a new friend of mine about BEESWAX! Mostly, I want to look at all kinds of skin care remedies that I can make at home (including those involving beeswax), and this IS the lady to talk to. Not onlyis she unafraid of experimenting with recipes, she already has several tried and true ones set in place. So...off I go to get ideas.
Jeff may have a new job soon, and while initially I was really bummed out to find that it would take up his Saturdays, at the moment I'm realizing that I can use my Saturdays for a number of things such as getting caught up on housework, studying Scripture and writing / songwriting out of that time, spending more time in intercession. I have been really feeling God pressing me that He has some things in store for Jeff and I that are really great, but will definitely require our being ready. I'm excited about that, but this is all I'm going to say on it for now. My primary problem in following God's will is that I start trying to get three steps ahead of Him and figuring out where He's going. This blog could easily become a vehicle for that if I let it, and that is not what I want. I will say I feel pressed to invest myself on all fronts: sermons, songs, and intercession.
I have gotten so much done in just 2 ish hours of work....and that makes me very happy. There is, however, a lot more to do! Bye for now!
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