Carrie Newcomer &
Jana Stanfield
Music is reliable tool to shift my mood, thoughts and attitude. It is often a passive prayer with me a quiet watchdog. Music is a terrific driving companion leaving less room for negative thinking.
It has often been an extended hand when I’m awash in turbulent waters of depression, grief and even anguish. My spirit experiences the vibration of certain chords, the pulse of rhythm, the dance of melody and resonance of harmonies, reminding me that I live and breathe. Music can nudge me into a sense of hope andlightness.
Jana Stanfield is dubbed the Queen of Heavy Mental, a writer and performer of social work songs. I was listening to her before having much knowledge of 12 step programs of recovery. It tickles me how I missed the screamingly obvious messages in songs titled, ‘Next Right Step’ and ‘Let the Change Begin’ and ‘Here and Now.’ I just picked up a CD and on the back cover is a coin bearing the Serenity Prayer. Who Knew? Needless to say, the songs helped me long before I was aware.
Indiana Songwriter, Carrie Newcomer, creates songs and poetry that feed my soul. She shares her rich appreciation and fascination with “the common things” in life that are remarkably extraordinary when viewed through her lyrics. Her work has fueled and guided my spiritual rebirth and growth.
Wise and peace loving, song after song supports a willingness to love wholeheartedly, inclusively. I am drawn to tales of justice, forgiveness, and relationship. I have learned to thrive in light and dark, and all the shades of grey in between, by learning that the sacred exists in simplest of things.
Music is as personal as fragrance. It’s a chemical reaction in my understanding. It’s likely we may not enjoy the same sounds or artists. I share this suggestion to explore music as a component to health, a gentle friend or a good coach. Thank you, Jana Stanfield and Carrie Newcomer, for being minstrel teachers. You’ve helped me to recognize and appreciate so much beauty. Thank you. I’m glad to be a grateful, sober messenger.