Must Be Nice

Last month I ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund my fifth CD, entitled, "Interior Gaze."

So far, I have posted the background stories and lyrics for 5 of the 10 new songs from the album.  Here is the story of another new song, "Must Be Nice."

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A comedian once said you should marry someone you don’t like... That way, when your spouse is angry, you won’t care!  I say, I am glad I married the person I like the best in the world!  However, it does allow for major heartbreak.  My husband and I have an amazing relationship, but it is not problem free.

We have emotional problems.  David feels loved when the house is clean.  I feel loved when I receive lots of affirming touch (not to be confused with erotically-charged touch).  I am not naturally tidy; David is not naturally touchy-feely.  So, if we do not work hard at speaking the other person’s “love language,” one of us tends to feel unloved.

We have intellectual problems.  In addition to the whole male/female dichotomy, we think about the world very differently.  David thinks: graphs, words, details!  I think: movement, color, big-picture. Without consulting the other, we normally come up with two different answers to the same question.

We have spiritual problems.  We each tend to put the other on a pedestal...you know, where God deserves to be!  Guess what happens when our flaws flare up unexpectedly.  It is disappointing, let me tell you.

Lastly, we have physical problems.  Many times physical limitations present temptations not to love the other in the best way possible.  Like this morning when I snapped at David because I felt fatigued.  In the words of Christ, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” -Matthew 26:41

I think the core of our problems is delicately described by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.  In his book, “Three to Get Married,” he wrote the following:

In all human love it must be realized that every man promises a woman, and every woman promises a man that which only God alone can give, namely, perfect happiness. One of the reasons why so many marriages are shipwrecked is because as the young couple leave the altar, they fail to realize that human feelings tire and the enthusiasm of the honeymoon is not the same as the more solid happiness of enduring human love.

Here is the good news: for each of our problems, there is a solution!  When we demand the answer from each other, we end up disappointed.  But when we seek the solution together by turning to God in prayer, our problems are always solved (though not always immediately) by the remedy of a deeper love.

In closing, I will share the link for the lyrics: CLICK HERE.  If you sense raw, newly-wed angst in my words, don't worry.  Does our marriage have problems?  You bet it does.  But working through those problems in prayer together, we continually discover a more enduring love.  

That, my friends, is solid happiness.  

Amanda 

Cleaning and Scrubbing

During the month of October, I am running a Kickstarter campaign to record my fifth album, “Interior Gaze.”  Over the course of this month, I am going to share the stories and lyrics from each of the 10 new tracks for this CD.  I will simply start in alphabetical order.  Towards the end of the campaign, I will recap the entire project, explaining how the "Theology of the Body" inspired each song.

Here is the background story for song #2, “Cleaning and Scrubbing.”

Our daughter, Chiara

David and I were married in the Catholic Church.  We vowed to receive children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the faith.  True to our word, our first child was born one month after our 1st wedding anniversary.  Our second child came just 18 months later.  Without a doubt, becoming parents has been the best and most challenging adventure of our marriage.  

As a young mom, the most popular comment I receive from more experienced parents is, “They grow up so fast!”  I am not sure if I completely understand the gravity of those words yet; our children are still just babies.  However, my (almost) two-year-old son, Jamal, recently learned to sing, “All done!” when he wants me to stop hugging and kissing him.  So, I might be catching on.

In my song, “Cleaning and Scrubbing” I hope to capture the gentle blend of joy and sorrow that seems to accompany the best job in the world -- receiving children lovingly from God and raising them in the faith.  I began writing it when I was pregnant with Jamal, incorporating a nursery rhyme my mom taught me when I was little:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
Babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep
I’m rocking my baby, and babies don’t keep.
-Author Unknown

After our daughter, Chiara, was born, I completed the rest of the piece.  If we receive enough preorders for my new project, I will sing this for Chiara on the album.  At home, I often tailor the words for Jamal before we tuck him in for the night.  He usually gives me an encore.  The longer I sing, the longer he can stay up!

To read the lyrics, visit the updates section of my Kickstarter webpage by clicking here.  Would you like to hear this song in a studio recording?  Consider backing my project by making a pledge, and please join me in praying for success in this campaign.

More Story Lines & Lyrics, coming soon.

Amanda 

Bad Timing

During the month of October, I am running a Kickstarter funding campaign to produce my fifth album, “Interior Gaze."  Over the course of this month, I am going to share the stories and lyrics from each of the 10 tracks for the CD (in alphabetical order.)  Towards the end of the campaign, will I re-cap the entire project, and explain how the "Theology of the Body" inspired each one.   

Here is the background story of song #1: “Bad Timing.” 

Music is the language of the soul.  I am trying to speak that language from my heart like never before, and I hope you catch a glimpse of my inner life through these songs.  I certainly want to share the joy and confidence I find through my faith in God.  At the same time, I want to be real about the struggle that comes from wrestling with my own ego.

The biggest downfall of my personal character is pride, the failure to see myself as I truly am.  I’m working and praying on it.  The remedy?  Honesty about both my strengths and weaknesses.  Writing about my failures is not the easiest, but I find encouragement in these words, “I will gladly boast in my weakness...when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

This song comes from years of feeling unrequited affection toward someone, then firmly moving on, and only then learning he felt the same towards me all along.  One of my favorite quotes is from an author named Josh Harris.  Speaking about relationships, he said, “The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.”  That seems to sum up this particular relationship.  

Today, happily married to someone else, I am at peace about the way this went down.  I could not have imagined a better outcome.  However, the feelings of hurt and confusion and incredulousness are still fresh on my heart when I think back on the ordeal.  So, this is me writing from that place of simple irony.  
To read the lyrics, visit the updates section of my Kickstarter webpage by clicking here.  Would you like to hear the song in a studio recording?  Consider backing my project by making a pledge, and please join me in praying for success in this campaign. 

More "Interior Gaze" story lines & lyrics coming soon.
Peace, 

Amanda