Dear Reader,
Happy February! I hope this love letter finds you well and thriving!
Has the last month felt a bit surreal for any of you? 👽 It certainly has for me. It's been a mixture of, "So much is happening, it's crazy!" and, "When will something exciting finally happen??".
If you find yourself asking that last question time and time again, you might know that it can be a dangerous one, because, if allowed to gain traction, our train of positivity will undeniably get derailed.
In my case, it led me to this:
"When will my music finally take off?... But how?... I’m too old… I'm in a foreign country... it's winter... no friends here... no musicians around... this house is colder than my fridge, I'm freezing... I hate being coldddd!!… When will these gale-force winds stop battering the house?... They're keeping me awake most nights... What’s the Greek word for _____ (I possess a mildly-impressive grip of a tongue-twisting language, often throwing in the odd English or German word in the hope of being understood!)… I can't believe we're not allowed to throw toilet paper down the loo! (Greece and Italy have a sewerage problem)… the oven's interior coating is peeling... the frying pan is coated in teflon... I need warm food… Argh, I forgot to switch the boiler on this morning (for hot water, which, unfortunately, drains to ice by the evening!)… I need to wash towels again (I wash most items by hand and, man, those big towels can get reeeally heavy!).😅
This went on and on. On about how the water pipes are really old so I have to buy water filters for the shower and the kitchen sink, how they have to be replaced often due to washing clothes by hand… On about how the postal system takes ages to deliver them and charges really high fees… how the houses here have no numbers, so the couriers have to locate them by geographic coordinates or landmarks, often missing the house altogether… how I'm out in the sticks… how public transport is non-existent here in the winter… how Greece is known for the slooowest and most expensive internet in Europe (I can vouch for both of those, despite purchasing the most expensive and fastest router)… how I am greeted with ‘The Spinning Wheel Of Death’ when I want to publish my 'Stack1 or export a music project. Then I thought about my elderly parents who are struggling with their health and how I can't help them. Then I thought about how cramped I am here, with no space for all my stuff, the inter-continental move I still need to organise, not forgetting the kaleidoscopic vision attacks (those can be cool as well, he he). 😵💫
Then it dawned on me: What about the phone call I had with the guy from Sony Music on Monday?... I haven't heard back from him yet, but how exciting is that??? He wanted to hear recent samples of my upcoming music, which I sent to him!
🙀
What about my Mum's 80th birthday party that she managed to organise with minimal trips to the oxygen machine and very little help from us?... What about the beautiful beach walks I took before the weather turned?… My almost-perfect health, when everyone around me is almost perpetually ill?… Or that I can still move my arms and legs… play my keyboards… type… put clothes on... walk?... What about the coincidental meeting with the stranger who knew my grandfather when he lived in Africa?… Or the kind people down the road who saw me walking about during one of those really cold day and invited me in to their place to warm up, making me a cup of tea and showering me with tapas and cookies?... My teachers and mentors that have inspired and helped me to get to where I am today... my beloved musical instruments and other belongings that have faithfully accompanied me across countries and continents and are still miraculously in one piece... the lovely people letting me live in this house... all my luxuries - my computer and mobile phone... the people who care to ask me how I am today… That my ex-husband even bothers to call and check how I’m doing in the new country, having to figure everything out on my own… For waking up safely every day and going to sleep safely every night... for living in a war-free zone... for my friends... my family... my subscribers... my fans... my musical abilities... even my crazy writing!… What about the view from my window every morning when I open the curtains and remember that I live opposite a castle!! How many people can say that they live next to a castle with a view of the sea?
I think you can see where this is going.
Luckily those episodes don’t last very long, anymore. Today I am content and grateful for everything I have, although I wasn't always that way. I used to be so obsessed with everything that was going wrong in my life, that I kept taking the good stuff for granted, so much so, that I let them completely pass me by. You know what the worst thing was?... In retrospect, I had to realise that there were actually more good things than bad that kept coming into my life, but that in taking them for granted, I eventually lost them all.
It might seem peculiar, but this is how The Universe sorts this out - whatever we repeatedly take for granted or don't appreciate, gets taken from us. That’s why today I see nothing as a given. Not the people I love, not my health, my house, my work, not even the sun!
Take N O T H I N G for granted. Especially your art. We are so privileged to have been showered with artistic gifts; gifts that signal to us that we are made to work in the creative sector and not in some mundane office, or factory, or the like. All due respect to these jobs, but they’re not for us. These gifts were given to us for a reason - not to ignore them or shove them under the carpet and gather regrets about why we can’t use them! Your inner calling is called that for a reason - it is a spiritual calling from deep within you, calling you to grace the world with your artistic gifts. So please - unleash them onto the world! 🪽
Love & Decibels,
xx jo xx
A Substack newsletter is often referred to as a ‘‘Stack’ by writers.
I enjoyed this issue. Great reminders about perspective and the always appreciated encouragement for art. 😀