🎵 Steemit Open Mic Week 61 + Open Mic Songwriters Week 1 - “Broken Mirror” (Original Song)
“Broken Mirror”
The Story
Happy to say I wrote this song today! It is prompted by the Open Mic Songwriters Challenge, launching this week. I first discovered the official invitation this afternoon, and thankfully I was able to get the kids to bed early enough to write and record this song. I even recruited my partner, @wildfamily, to sing the chorus lines with me. It's essentially our love story, with a bit of embellishment.
She and I met when I was finishing grad school at UT, here in Austin. I sported a mohawk at the time, and tended to be up late, partying. She had a one-year-old son, and tended to be up early, playing peekaboo. So we had some quirks right from the get-go. And then we discovered we had a strong commonality in the appreciation of each other's quirks. It turns out we're twin flames, divinely aligned to grow together as a family. 🔥 💛 ✨
This song's chorus lines are really fun to sing! Catchy, right? This week's songwriters challenge required us to use “broken mirror” as a prompt, and so I started playing around with the concept and found a way to see a broken mirror in a positive light: more mirrors to reflect the light of the sun (hm, I wonder if this is how disco balls originated). To me, the sun is the ultimate source of life and light, and so I revere the sun as a sacred gift. I love the idea of the many suns, that might be reflected in a broken mirror.
My partner and I have been through a few broken mirrors. We've also received some stellar parenting coaching on the subject of mirrors. Our mentor, Carrie Contey, Ph.D., frequently reminds us that kids mirror their parents, and vice-versa. This means we model each other, yeah, and it also means that we empathize with each other–we feel each other's pain, we learn by each other's trials and errors...
And we radiate each other's light. When I think about what it means to say that I “shine a light” for my family, many concepts come to mind: (1) I pay the electric bill that keeps the lamps lit; (2) I do my best to be brilliant in my thoughts words and actions; (3) I accentuate the positive; and (4) I choose to be strong, safe, happy, and live well. I like to think I do all of this for the sake of my family. The greater truth is that I shine a light for myself, first and foremost, and this light naturally reaches warm, bright, and cozy to my family, to my greater family, and to my Greater Family, which is all of us. Aho.
The Lyrics
He was a mohawk hipster party-seeking
She was a braided hippie granola-eating
Met in Austin started rock ‘n’ rolling
Soon left Texas to pursue country living
He got ready to be a rad daddy
She got ready to be a hot mama
Suddenly they had a five-member family
In a wild world getting wildly heavy
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 2x
He let his inner animal howl
She let her inner animal roar out
Broke many mirrors as a man and a woman
Broke many more mirrors married with children
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 2x
He saw himself when he saw his daughter
She saw herself when she saw her sons
They learned to be mirrors for each other
Reflecting the light and growing together
[One sun reflecting on a broken mirror
Echoes many suns all at once] 4x
Here's the guitar tablature, in case you're interested.
The Open Mic
I'd like to thank @meno and @luzcypher for co-creating the Open Mic Songwriters Challenge. And another round of thanks to @luzypher for simultaneously hosting the Steemit Open Mic Week 61. Cheers to all of the sponsors, judges, participants, and audience members. Thank you all for being here and supporting live music.
Side Note: I'm just now noticing the interesting collection of books on my night stand right now, which gives evidence to the fact that I'm just as much “hippie” as I am “hipster,” and the same is probably true of my wife. :) Gnomes, The Rainbow Book, Humans of New York, Cosmicomics, Nature and the Human Soul, The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, and Anna The Voice of the Magdalenes.
Was listening to a number of broken mirror themed songs for the contest and found yours, and it's really grand. Beautiful lyrics, and a lovely melody. I dig it deep, thanks for sharing.
Rock on, thank you for your excellent compliment. I really appreciate it. I took a quick look at your blog, and it looks like you're off to a good start. Might be a good idea to create a new #introduceyourself post, including a selfie with your profile name: @glowmo and the date - that proves you're a real human being, and people will be receptive to the new person here. Wishing you the best of luck on your Steemit journey, and a Happy New Year!
That's a good tip, I didn't know you were allowed a second chance at a first impression, but I'll give it a go. Happy new year to you too.
Hm, let's see who's more “hippie” and “hipster.” Here are the books on my night stand: Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dear Lover, The Temple of My Familiar, The Religion of Ayahuasca, and True Refuge. :)
Touché! Congratulations, you're both the hippiest and the hipsterest. And I dig that about you. Which one is your favorite on your night stand at the moment? Mine is Cosmicomics, by Italo Calvino. It's so imaginative and funny. Short stories like the one about stars teasing stars clear across the galaxy, for example, and the one about giants playing marbles with planets.
Well, one of my favorite books in the entire world is: Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. This book features the archetype of the "Wild Woman," who represents the instinctual nature of women. But she is an endangered species. And, she is the shape of my personal identity, because I value her role in today's world so dearly. I am wild, wilding, and re-wilding!
Is that a book you'd recommend for men too, or is it more of a call to the women? On a similar subject, your name "Kat" feels like a prrrfect fit for you, knowing your given name is "Katherine". 🐆 🐾
Ooh, and have you seen the cat bot that shows up when you use the tag: #cats? So funny!
I see your videos, your videos are good
Thank you. This one's a simple GoPro vid. I'm actually a professional videographer, if you can believe that (most of my #openmic vids are pretty amateurish so far). One day I'll acquire a wide-angle lens and then I'll be able to get some proper recordings in our tight spaces at home.
pro-song dude and a lovely story! So nice to hear wildfamily harmonizing with you. :) big love x
Thank you, brother. So fun! Can't wait to check out your song, and others' too. Yeah, @wildfamily has such a pleasant voice, and hers helps mine to shine. Much love back atcha!
@cabelindsay I freakin love it bro!! the lyrics are fantastic and then when the boss lady kicked in your voices blended like magic...
Loved every second of it...
Yay, thanks so much! Man, I was really lit up by the chorus. As soon as that part landed, I felt like I found a sweet groove, and things started to fall into alignment. Seriously a blast, especially when my wife arrived and heard me rehearsing. She was excited too. I'm grateful to you for this invitation, brother. Thank you.
Beautifully written and sung. It is so true that family members are mirrors reflecting each other. Reminds us to be careful what we reflect on our children.
So true. Thank you. Yes, exactly. Sheesh, I thought I'd be a natural dad, and it was a part of my genetics or something (because my dad was so great), but I struggled with parenting for awhile. Still gets complicated sometimes (almost every day), and thankfully I'm learning tenderness and practicing a calm lovingkindness, and sure enough it's returning to me in the kids–those mirrors.
Sometimes the mirrors get a bit smudged, but that's okay because we can correct that.
Yes indeed. You really touch my heart with your comments, you know. Thank you for caring, for sharing, for asking, and for being so encouraging.
You are very welcome.
Sweet song with fun lyrics. The chorus is very cute (One sun reflecting on a broken mirror echoes many suns all at once).
Thank you, my friend. Man, I was repeating the chorus in my mind over and over last night, even as I slept. It's got a mysterious resonance to it. Feels really good.
Love this! So sweet
Thank you. Rock on! I see you have an entry too–I'm checking that out now. Cheers.
Update: I'm touched by your #openmicsongwriters entry. It brings to mind a powerful practice I learned during a spell of depression, when a friend advised me to look into the mirror and say to myself, "I accept you exactly as you are." It's an exercise that's helped me a lot in life: seeing myself with loving eyes and embracing what I see, flaws and all.
That is so nice to hear! That was indeed kinda the point, we tend to see our flaws when looking into a mirror instead of accepting that the way we are is just fine. Tried to keep it as general as possible, so it would fit in a parent-child, between lovers or other relation. You're usually better able to see the beauty in the ones you love versus yourself.
I like the way you think, my new friend. Thanks for your comments!
Groovy, I like it :-) My 2 year old was bopping along too! My parents used to sing together, I thought it was a lovely thing for a couple to do.
Happy to hear your youngster approves. Yeah, one of my greatest joys in life right now is our nighttime ritual, when we sing and enjoy the peaceful, restful moments together. Last night the kids sang with us–that's the ultimate in sweetness!
That's such a wonderful ritual for your whole family... I love hearing things like that and I'm glad you told me! :-) Your children are blessed to have such creative parents... mine were too and I had a rich childhood (not money but everything that mattered), but my husband's family were the opposite... made him self-conscious and scorned creative pursuits. Thankfully he followed his dreams anyway and has books published and all sorts. His family never really know what to say to that :-) So here I raise my glass to creativity and creative families!!! Slainte to yours @cabelindsay!
Ooh, I can relate with your husband's winding path, even though my parents were art aficionados. Glad your husband found his artist way. And even happier to hear about your parents' embrace of the arts. To me, creative thinking is a lifelong gift that must be nurtured and practiced. Hugs and high-fives to you and your family!
It's so interesting the way we artists find their way in and out of the arts, and then back in again. I was immersed in art as a kid! My dad was an elementary art teacher, always having art supplies around, and also creating paintings, clay sculptures, carpentry... My fears of being a "starving artist" drove me into the advertising field, because it was a "safe" form of art–one that would pay the bills. Right? Wrong! Many bills later, I am embracing the art in me more than ever, and I'm so thankful for the twists and turns that brought me here. Turns out love, rather than fear, is the road to success in life. Am I right?
You're right, certainly! We stick with what's safe and it's so dull and dissatisfying even if it pays the bills, and what's the point in wasting our days in a job that has zero nourishment for our soul. We spend all day staring out the window dreaming of all the creative things we'd rather be doing. But there's no reason why artists have to be struggling artists.... suffer for your art and all that nonsense! That's why I celebrate the blockchain.... this is our chance... finally! Maybe no so big bucks right now but at least there's no-one saying what to do and give me a cut of your SBD slave! I think the future holds good things for all us creative people :-)
So right! Viva the blockchain!! :) Steemit just may be the very starting point to the Creative Age – when we survive and thrive by our creative thinking ability.
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