Well… here we are almost a year since my previous update and you would be forgiven for wondering if I’m even still here….
Whilst we all had the weirdest couple of years and gradually emerged into 2022, thinking it was all over, for me on a personal level, things went headlong into another crisis.
On 1st February 2022 my beloved father suffered a stroke and the ensuing battle to get him the help he needed to get back on his feet given his existing medical backdrop was traumatic for him and for all the family, and for me, his only surviving child, it necessitated near daily travel to various medical and care settings plus all manner of phone and email travails… and all for a huge chunk of the year so far.
Happily (and miraculously!) this has all paid off and he is now back home, sense of humour largely intact :). And whilst the stroke has left what he calls its ‘calling card’, he is able to enjoy daily life once more to an extent that makes it all worthwhile. And I am profoundly happy to be able to spend a little extra time with him before life’s only certainty decides otherwise.
With all this going on, I found solace as ever in music-making and in the piano and singing - but in a different way. Two things emerged. Firstly the need to just play… anything… unscripted… totally free to express what needed to be expressed in the moment of its feeling purely to allow the subconscious an outlet and to feel a spiritual freedom and deeper understanding of the here and now. And secondly, an immense gratitude for the life that I have, a greater awareness of its precarious existence and with that, an overwhelming joy that is also making its way into the music in various ways.
And before all of this, I had already gone through a transformative period of being able to say ‘yes’ to invitations to collaborate in a variety of new ways which pre-pandemic I would never have had the time to consider getting involved with. So, dear reader, if you are still indulging me by reading, stay tuned because the evolution is real and profound and coming for your ears..!
There will now follow a few updates of things I ought to have updated on here sooner >>>. For now, I leave you with a portrait of my Dad back at home.
Hoping all is well with you and yours,
Julia.x
