I’m really a wanna-be gardener. An amateur at best. But it’s my happy place. It’s where I think and write and get my hands dirty. Here I can totally lose track of time.

I think songwriting can be a bit like gardening. Some songs just fall out. It’s as if the idea was just dropped there and germinated on its own, growing into a full-fledged song without much effort on my part. Those are the rare ones, and they are gifts from above. More often than not, my songs need to “winter over” before they find their way to full expression. I’m a contemplator, and I need time to fully develop a lyric – searching for the right words to convey the idea. Most lyrics need a little weeding and pruning (or maybe a lot), removing this line or that word in an attempt at being sure every word matters to the song. I’m usually after the element of truth that makes a lyric connect with the listener.

I hope, as I’m growing as a writer /gardener, that this process may get easier or at least faster and hopefully, the good ones will outweigh the not-so-good ones. (And I’ve written many lousy ones!) I think the key is finding good collaborators/co-writers who stretch me and inspire me, and together we find JOY in the process.