We are living, breathing human beings in a world that has forgotten what that means.

Bad people are in power. Lies are more popular than the truth. And when we need relief from any of it, we reach for a tiny electronic screen that was specifically designed to keep us reaching. That is the loop. That is where we live now.

I think about that a lot. The duality of being a creative person in this moment. You want to make something real in a world that rewards fake. You want to go deep in a culture that only…

I almost didn't write this one.

Not because I didn't have anything to say. I always have something to say. I have a whole blog full of something to say. That's kind of the thing I want to talk about.

I was sitting here getting ready to write a post and I had this honest moment. Does anyone actually read these? I don't have a massive audience. Some people stumble onto this page. A few listen to a song. Maybe one or two click into the blog. And I have been writing these posts like there is a crowd out there…

Memorial Day weekend. The year is flying by. What a year it has been out there in the world, and in my own life. I have a feeling you know exactly what I mean.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Not the productive kind. The kind that just happens when you get quiet enough to actually hear yourself.

For a long time I was making music I thought I should be making. Styles I thought I was supposed to be in. Trying to sound like other writers. Chasing some idea of what success was supposed to look like…

It's a cool Saturday morning. The sun is coming up through gray clouds. It rained last night, which I love - good for the flowers. My dog Joey and I were just outside looking at them. And I got to thinking, the way I always do when it's quiet enough to hear myself.

I have written songs my entire life. In high school alone I wrote over 950 of them and then I stopped counting. I have no idea how many songs I've written total. Thousands, probably. I have songs I forgot I wrote. Finding them again feels like…

I have spent a long time trying to make music that other people would want. Chasing a version of success that was never really mine. Measuring the work against metrics that had nothing to do with the work itself. I thought I had a chance of making it. Whatever that means. I was trying to speak a language that wasn't my own.

Something shifted. I stopped chasing and started listening. To myself, to the music, to what was always underneath.

What I am building now is a world. Thirteen songs written, recorded…