Today is the official paperback release of Magical Journey.
Paperback publications of quiet, mid-list memoirs don’t generally get reviews or ad budgets or press releases or parties.
But I’m pretty excited about today anyway. The fact Magical Journey even made it into a paperback edition is incredibly gratifying. It means this close-to-my-heart book will find its way to many more readers in the months to come. (Thanks to some energetic advance footwork by the terrific Magical Journey Team, this is already happening!) Reason enough to celebrate, right?
So, this morning I thought, Why not mark pub date with an intimate on-line party right here, in the space where we meet each week to converse, connect, and share stories of our lives?
First, some music. . .
Exactly two years ago this week, I was holed up in my mom’s guest room, writing five or six hours a day. To stay sane, I took long walks. One afternoon, while listening to a Pandora station through my earbuds, I found myself stopped in my tracks on the sidewalk, tears streaming down my cheeks.
I hadn’t heard Stevie Nicks singing “Landslide” since I was a teenager – when I’d loved the song without having a clue what it was really about.
The version coming through the ether was different, recorded live just six years ago. Stevie’s voice is older, scratchier, better. It’s a little raw, and full of feeling. And all at once, I knew:
The questions in the song were the very questions I was struggling with in my life and in the pages of my book.
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
And can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Oh oh I don’t know, oh I don’t know. . .
The bittersweet ache of children growing up, the truth of change, the idea that growing older can also mean growing stronger – these were my themes. And they were captured perfectly in these lyrics.
Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too
Yes, I’m getting older too.
I must have listened to “Landslide” a hundred more times over the last two years. I came to think of it as my secret “Magical Journey” anthem. And it inspired me to go in search of more songs that spoke to all I was feeling, songs about growth and change and living in the moment.
The result? A Magical Journey playlist. These are the songs that kept me writing and walking and thinking and feeling. I hope they resonate with you on your journey, too.
To access the Magical Journey Playlist, go to the homepage, scroll all the way down, and you’ll see the Grooveshark widget near the bottom of the sidebar, on the left. Click and listen. Let me know what you think. (And tell me what songs I’m missing!)
Photos from the journey. . .
I’m not really a photographer. But I love to capture the small, revelatory details that give life its texture and color. Although I didn’t deliberately set out to take pictures of my Magical Journey year, I did end up with a collection of photos that evoke or capture some of the moments I wrote about. Just for fun, I’ve gathered up a few of them here to share with you. (My husband took the photo above early on a rainy morning, moments before I stood on this stool in a pond near our house, where he shot the picture for the book jacket — yes, a family project.)
“Deep beneath the frozen earth, new life waits, patiently biding time until the blessing of sun and benediction of rain call it forth. Sitting here alone in my slowly brightening kitchen, I wonder if my early morning restlessness could be preparing me for an awakening of my own.”
“And meanwhile, unnoticed and and unremarked on, there was the exquisite, empty sky, the golden trees, the pure light of the sun at dusk, the sharp transparent air.”
“Growth begins in silence, evolution with a heartbeat, journeys from where we are: standing in one place and daring to imagine a new horizon.”
“Do I have the courage to be ‘home alone’ with myself, to enter into the deeper rhythm of my own being? The question leads me back, again and again, to my yoga mat.”
“There is just space for two pairs of metal bunk beds, a single twin (already taken) in the middle, a sink, a wastebasket, and three small dressers to be shared for a month with four other women.”
“In a way, teacher training is like kindergarten. We begin the day singing. We have circle time and sharing time. Our teachers tell us stories.”
“I am home, but the journey will clearly be ongoing; a journey that turns out to be more about accepting the person I am now than striving to become someone else.”
“Our sons may be grown and gone, but Gracie, loyal companion of their boyhoods, is still here. Still here and, though decades older than all of us in dog years, still exuberantly herself, reminding us that to live well is to honor both the beauty of routine and the enchantment of the moment that is right now.”
“Which books have gone mute? Which ones are speaking up, demanding to be returned to the shelves?”
“On the sill: a couple of crystals, a black heart-shaped rock picked up on a walk many years ago, a glass egg that catches the sunlight. . . .”
“Writing has helped me figure out what I know for sure and, more important, it has given me a way to grapple with those questions that seem to have no answers.”
“What would I have thought on the eve of my graduation, if someone could have flashed me forward thirty years to this mild spring midnight, this room full of exuberant fifty-plus-year-old women dropping their butts to the party anthem of our era?”
“And so we show up where we can and we give what we do have to offer: ourselves.”
“Perhaps our paths crossed randomly, but somehow I think not, choosing to believe instead that there is invisible magic at work in all our lives, magic that sets us down on the routes we’re meant to walk, magic that leads us to one another. . .”
“Move with the current, not against it. Resist nothing. Let life carry you.”
enter to win a signed paperback copy of Magical Journey
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who visit here week after week, read my writing, and write to me in return. I love your “voices” and am always honored to hear your stories. Today it’s my pleasure to offer two signed copies of the new paperback of Magical Journey.
To enter to win a book, leave a comment below. Tell me what song is on re-play in your car or inspiring you in your own life these days. Or, just say hello and “count me in.” Winners will be chosen at random after entries close at midnight on January 29. Good luck to all!
Want to order the paperback today? Click here.
A favorite song that I enjoy hearing on my radio would be: ” I’m an Overcomer”
I listen to Barbra Streisand’s “Send in the Clowns” and “If I could”, over and over.
Thank you, Katrina, for sharing your journey with us. And, thanks for the playlist! I’m a Neil Young fan, but had never heard “The Painter” – what a perfect song for the journey.
I think so too, especially that line: “If you follow every dream, you might get lost.” So true, right?
Musicwise I’ve been listening to the Les Miserables soundtrack. But….I am an avid listener to books on tape as well. Now, I swear I am not sucking up to win a book, but I’ve just discovered your book “The Gift of an Ordinary Day”. I was captivated by the title and I am so thoroughly enjoying your voice as you read your words. I feel like you are telling my story. I am listening to it in small bits because I am finding that it is quite emotional for me. I, too have 2 sons. Mine are now 17 and 21 and your words are so timely. I am now trying to figure out what to do next with my life. I homeschooled my sons so among my losses as they move forward with their lives is also the loss of my own purpose and vocation. Time for another. I can’t wait to read The Magical Journey. I hope I win, but if not, I’ll most certainly buy one anyway.
When I read “The Gift of an Ordinary Day”, I, too, felt that Katrina was telling my story.
My last child had gone to college and we had just moved to a small town in NH about twenty minutes from where Katrina lives. Having spent my life raising children, I was also at a loss as to what my purpose and vocation was now to be. I’m still muddling about, trying to find a bliss to follow, but it will come with patience and time. I just wanted to say that it takes a very special writer to bare so much of her own soul that she touches the souls of others so deeply. Thank you for that book, Katrina – and good luck with with the launch of the paperback of The Magical Journey. You write for yourself – and you in doing so, you give a voice to us all.
Have always loved ‘Landslide’..just tweeted yesterday about the Clydesdale Super Bowl commercial last year, featuring the song..twitter pals were in tears re-watching it..so moving-the music & sweet message…anyway, I digress…fave song lyrics ever are from the song ‘Sunscreen’ http://www.anysonglyrics.com/lyrics/b/bazluhrmann/everybodys.htm
I attended a commencement ceremony where this was quoted…loved it!
Congrats on the paperback release of this amazing book..very proud of you!!
Thank you Katrina,
I received my signed bookplates today in the mail. One for me, and now off to buy 2 more copies of Magical Journey for two dear friends, each on their own private journey. You were a dear to do the bookplates…..thank you,
Chris
Thank you for sharing your journey, which showed me I was not alone.
Each time I have read Magical Journey in the past year I have used a different coloured marker for highlighting! My copy now looks like a rainbow!
Dear Katrina,
What a lovely 2nd ‘birthing’ day for your book and what fun to know you created a playlist for memorable songs. I’m sure they’ll help carry many of us along into this next of our own journeys. And what do you mean that you’re not a photographer? Say “Yes” !!
Pam
Just wrote my first ever review on Amazon! Thank you, Katrina!
Katrina ~ Was thrilled to see your connection with “Landslide”. You are my favorite writer, and Stevie is my favorite musical person. We are all connected in this journey of life, aren’t we?
Looking forward to reading your wonderful book and would love to give another one away… signed. May you continue to be blessed.
Hello….and Count Me In :)…..I have no songs to share now….I need to get back to my music…to get back to listening….Thanks!
I feel like I’ve been without much music for quite a while now—aside from two kids CDs in the car. Even when I’m in the car alone, I seem to opt for silence, but I’ve been starting to realize that I miss my music.
Faithful Love.
landslide is absolutely perfect… tears running down my face as I listen to the words with all new meaning as my oldest has been accepted at his top choice college and the reality is upon me.
Hello and count me in. Lately I’ve been listening to Drew Holcomb’s album Chasing Someday and there are several songs on there that make me feel young with new love on my sleeve again. But I love me some Landslide too. Might have to have a listen.
Katrina, I love seeing the images that accompany your beautiful words (especially the opening of the fence through the fog). What a great idea! And, I recognized those bunkbeds at Kripalu immediately 🙂
I’m embarrassed to say that I just last weekend bought The Gift of an Ordinary Day, after showing the YouTube video to so many and crying my eyes out every time. When deciding whether or not to buy a book, I open it in the middle and start reading. If I can’t bear to part with it, I buy it. Otherwise, I save it for another time. This one captured my soul to the point that I couldn’t put it down long enough to pay and drive home. Thank you for sharing your gift.
As far as “journey” music, I love “100 Years” by Five for Fighting. I first heard it in a commercial and it touched my heart beyond words. More often than not, I cry when I hear it, especially now that the big 5-0 is only 3 months away. Some lyrics:
“Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We’re moving on.”
Katrina,
Every time I read your writings, I am taken on a magical journey. Your descriptive sentences and emotion-wrought sentiments make me feel I am right there with you. Last Sunday, our choral director sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters because the words conveyed the sermon message better than any hymn she could find. I found myself sitting there with tears streaming down my face feeling very vulnerable as the song and its meaning touched me to the core. You are a powerful author and I would be honored to win a signed copy of your book.
I like to listen to “Conviction of the Heart” by Kenny Loggins. Here are some of the lyrics (not in order of the song) :
Where are the dreams that we once had?
This is the time to bring them back
What were the promises
Caught on the tips of our tongues?
Do we forget or forgive?
There’s a whole other life
Waiting to live when
One day we’re brave enough
To talk with conviction of the heart
You’ve heard it hundreds of times
Say you’re aware, believe and you care
But do you care enough?
Where’s your conviction of the heart?
I especially like the thought of “do you care enough?” I have to ask that of myself often.
Thanks for the chance to win. I have your other books and would love to add t his to my collection.
I love your photographs accompanied by your passages from your Magical Journey! Beautiful! I look forward to listening to your playlist! Thank you for sharing yourself with all of us! Blessings to you as we continue on our journey! Namaste!
P.S. Did you ever listen to “Beam Me Up” by Pink? It’s about what it would be like to go to heaven for a minute to visit with a friend, or loved one, beautiful! Bridge Over Troubled Water and What a Wonderful World by Louie Armstrong are also favorites!
Surprisingly, some of the Disney soundtrack titles are inspiring, such as Frozen’s new hit, Let it Go. Thanks for the chance to win your paperback and for your steadfast writing. I always savor a new post of yours, and usually share it with lots of other people. Thanks!
I would love to have a copy of this to share with friend. I loved this book and so glad to be a part of your team. 🙂
Jennifer
I received your message during the massive snowstorm in the Northeast today.
I look outside and think of Simon and Garfinkle’s Sounds of Silence. It has been on my playlist ever since I was in high school. It is especially appropriate today with the
beautiful scene outside my window. I love “Magical Journey” It is a metaphor for life.
We are all on that journey through life. Congrats on the paperback. Keep those
magical inspiring essays coming.
ah! Van Morrison! one of my faves! but so many on your play list were as well. what is the best part of this? connecting with others and having so many of us resonant with each other. Well done Katrina, well done.
As the mother of four teenagers, so many of your experiences really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing so much of your life and thoughts with others. And I would absolutely love to have a signed copy!!!
Hi Katrina! I’m sooo excited to see you when you come to LCF in March!
In the meantime…I wanted to share one of my new favorite songs, and I must give credit to Aruni Nan Futuronsky at Kripalu who leads the Inner Quest workshop where I really “heard” this song for the first time.
I did the workshop just about 1 year ago (February) and it was so powerful and so meaningful to my life.
Please listen to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.
The words really “spoke” to me as I turned 50 this year and see the wonderful possibilities that lie before me…
See you soon!
Julie
A couple of months ago, I discovered the beautiful and touching song, No Other Love, by Jo Stafford, which was a hit in 1949, the year of my birth! I have listened to it over and over, trying to imagine my parents in that year, already with a young infant, and yet waiting for me to arrive. It catches at my heart every time I hear it.
Count me in…I would love to have a paperback copy of Magical Journey to share with a friend!
“Imagine” by John Lennon. This song has always touched my heart with its message of imagining a world with no fighting, no killing, no war…..only a world filled with love and hope. RIP John…you are still an inspiration and a hope of a better world.
Confetti by Tori Kelly has such a fresh sound with an old message. So grateful for my beautiful 17 year old – a singer/songwriter at an arts school here in Michigan, always introducing me to new interesting artists. We are perched on the edge of the new adventure of higher education for her and the reality she will be a plane ride or two away next fall. Your books have been such a blessing – articulating so beautifully – the feelings we have moved through parenting two amazing girls. Namaste
Katrina,
I always enjoy visiting your blog…you are an inspiration! thanks for the opportunity to read your latest book 🙂
The country song ” You’re Gonna Miss This” is on my mind a lot, makes me cry every time. I loved your book “The Gift of An Ordinary Day” and I would love to read this one.
Your writing has always spoken to me and now your playlist does too. Literally! Thank you.
I’ve been watching the TV show Nashville and currently loving the song ‘A Life that’s Good’. The chorus…two arms around me, heaven to ground me, and family that always calls me home. Four wheels to get there, enough love to share and a sweet, sweet, sweet song. At the end of the day, Lord I pray, I have a life that’s good.
Also loving your photos…so serene!
Do “Count me in.” James Taylor is singing, “Fire and Rain.”
Any song written and sung by either Dave Matthews or Bruce Springsteen really inspire me (there are so many songs I just love by these two that I cannot pick a favorite). I listen to them on my hour long commute to work and just rejoice-check them out! Keep on keepin’ on!
I recently quit my job as a people please and am now working on becoming a me-pleaser. The perks have been incredible. No resentment, no regrets, no guilt. Life is a magical journey. Be open to it all. I’d love to win an autographed copy of your book to pass on to a dear friend who is a little lost on the path of life.
Congratulations on this special day! One song that I have heard lately that speaks to me is Brave by Sara Bareilles. She sings about breaking your silence and letting the words fall out. Telling my own truth is so important to me as I’ve grown older.
Having a melancholy day…my youngest went back to college today. The house is quiet again. The older two are living their own lives. My favorite songs..”forever young”, ” my wish” ” I hope you dance” and ” you’re going to miss this”. Love groove shark!
I love that song and it always touches me!
Thanks for sharing. I love the photos as well.
Hi, my favorite music right now is the piano songs my 10 yr old son (my youngest of 4) is playing. He loves it and has a real talent for it, and it is such a joy!
I am so happy to be sharing the journey with you! Congratulations on your publishing date!
Congratulations on the new paperback. I love this book and have shared it with several friends. I look forward to your weekly blog every week as it inspires and moves me always. Also a big Pandora fan, love anything of Loreena Mckennitt.
Katrina, I so love seeing your blog, and your book Magical Journey spoke to me. I have a sick friend, and so many special female relationships, and I have shared your book with my fifty-something girlfriends; I just love the peace you inspire. Currently I have 2 recent hardcover copies from Amazon, at my feet, to give as gifts.
I am so interested that you have chosen” Landslide”; I came of age in the 1970’s, loved Fleetwood Mac, and that song. . . Never made sense to my 22-yr-old self in 1978, but it does now. Loved the tune — and now it so ties together! Keep writing.. Love your work! I am a Massachusetts girl, hope to meet you some day!
Green Day. “Time of your life”. Count me in. 🙂
What funny timing if your post! Landslide has been on my favorite playlist for the last month! I’ve been listening to it over and over again! So excited that Magical Journey is now in paperback. Congrats!
You have touched my spirit in many ways with your life stories and words of encouragement. I have read The Gift of an Ordinary Day and so enjoy your blog. So often, it seems to be written for me as it has something that really rings true.
Congratulations, Katrina, on your paperback release! What a gift your books are to your readers – and what a treat today to see these multimedia companions. “Landslide” is a favorite song of mine, can’t wait to check out the others on your list. xo
Oh my, I would dearly love to win a signed paperback copy of this book that has moved me so much. I can’t even explain, but I would love to reread it, savor it, underline passages, make notes in the margin, and truly make it my own. I borrowed it from the library to read the first time, and writing in library books is definitely not allowed. I have also recommended it to several friends who have treasured it as I have. So thankful you are writing words that reach so many Katrina. Hope you never stop. The song that is currently going through my head it Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, yes indeed!!
Dan Fogelberg’s Part of the Plan!
“Love when you can, cry when you have to.
Be who you must, that’s a part of the plan.”
Congratulations Katrina!!!
I came to this post after finishing an assignment for my own yoga teacher training and feeling quite worn out. And this post is like a party! I had such a good time re-reading some of my favorite passages from your book and I felt so nourished by those photos! The one of the gate in the mist is stunning and the photo of all the hands – is that before your walk? – took my breath away. On to the playlist now 🙂 This is a wonderful idea. Thank you. I needed a party. I am so glad I came!!
I, too, would love a signed paperback of this book. How happy I was to see Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead in your photo above—I read my mom’s copy as a young girl and believe Anne Morrow Lindbergh left me hungry for more memoirs ever since. Your books remind me of her intro to Hour of Lead, when she explains why she wrote—and why she shared—her personal story. It is another way of giving what we have to give, as you wrote: ourselves.
Michael Franti and Spearhead are on constant play in my minivan, filled with young boys who dominate the CD player, but I like him too so I’m not complaining. When I’m on a rare drive alone, I love “The Most” by Lori MaKenna. I’m convinced you’d love it too.
My hand got tired copying out all the sentences that resonated for me in the copy I borrowed from the library. So I would love a copy of my own.
I loved the song, “I Will Survivie.”
Would love to win this!! Some Favorite songs:My wish by rascal flats, Anyway by Martina mcbride, I drive your truck by lee Brice, What a wonderful world by Louis Armstrong….
Katrina,
Congratulation on this second publishing event! One of my favorite songs is See You In September by Bobby Vinton. I love all three of your books and look forward to giving a copy of your latest paperback version with a friend.
What a great giveaway! I would absolutely love to win even one copy of your amazing sounding book! Songs that have been inspiring me lately… That’s a tough one as I have so many go-to songs that lift me up, help me think, remind me that I’m not alone, and encourage me. A recent one I just hit upon is “This Moment” by Katy Perry. Some of my old favorites are “100 Years” by Five for Fighting, “The Heart of the Matter” by Don Henley, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)” by the Byrds, and “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban. Thanks again, Katrina!
So exciting to move onto paperback!! I have given several hardcovers to some of my “contemporaries” as gifts but would love to be in on this…count me in!!
“Poems, Prayers & Promises” (John Denver) has always struck a chord with me (as many of his songs do) and is part of my personal “playlist.”
(…and I see previews for Aladdin begin on February 26th…so exciting for you and your family!)
Katrina, I have been an admirer of yours since reading “Gift of An Ordinary Day.”
I haven’t listened to any of your song choices for your new book, but I do have one that resonates with me right now. “It is Well With My Soul’ is an old hymn that I have loved for years and now feel its comfort even more poignantly since my husband of 41 years died on December 27, 2013. I wake up with that song on my lips and in my heart. It calms me, binds me closer to God, and tells me that my husband is in a far better place where all is well with his soul, too.
Kids songs! One that gets stuck in my head so much is M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I by the Okee Dokee Brothers. My kids just love that song!!
The song I play over and over again is “You Need A Friend” by James Taylor…it is our song….our being my husband of almost 41 years and I. It is a constant reminder of his love, in fact I even have it as my ring tone for him on my cell phone.
By the way Congratulations…meant to put it in my previous post. What a wonderful journey you have been on.
I love listening to Simon & Garfunkle`s ` I am just a poor boy`
The Boxer ( I am justa poor boy)on & Garfunkle
Thanks for your amazing book! I love that I picked it randomly off the library shelf at just the right time in my life!
I listen to Fairouz every morning. Sounds of my childhood that I want my kids to grow up to. She speaks to my heart.
I too am in the 50’s and empty nesters club and have really been enjoying your blogs and books! My journey song for the last couple of years has been “Blessings” by Laura Story because God blessed us with a beautiful, strong willed grandson that has a paralyzed diaphragm and mito disease. So, we now have entered into the trached/vent/tubie life that I knew nothing about. I still cry when I hear this song and my healing comes through those tears!
I was reintroduced to Landslide this year when my daughter was singing it at the piano. I really listened to the words for the first time. Gwyneth Paltrow sang it on Glee, which is where my daughter heard it. She is on her own journeys so I believe it touched her.
My musical tastes are very eclectic so I find myself turning to different music at different times. When I need peace, it’s George Winston, fun, Jamie Cullum….this summer I was listening to John Denver because it transported me back to my childhood visits to my neighbor’s island home (and I lost her at 17). Music is so powerful and it filled me with happy and sad memories at the same time.
I have been noticing the words to the song Bruises lately.
I read, I breathed in deeply, and I let your thoughtful words bring calm to my teetering emotions this morning. Thank you.
It’s so refreshing to know that we’re not alone on this journey. That’s what I loved about Mitten Strings and Ordinary Day. The words I was reading were thoughts that I could have put down on paper myself, if I were the talented wordsmith that you are, Katrina. I also love the idea of a Magical Journey playlist. Three of my favorite songs of all time are: “100 Years,” by Five for Fighting, ” Don’t You Forget About Me,” by Simple Minds (dating myself with that one), and “Show Me What I’m Looking For,” by Carolina Liar. However, “Try,” by Pink became my personal anthem this last year while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. “Just because you’re burned doesn’t mean you’re gonna die. You gotta get up and try and try and try…” Yes, you do….every single day.
Katrina, I’m new to your blog, and I think it’s a perfect fit even though I am much older than you. I listened to and appreciated every one of your songs until The Long and Winding Road took me down. Please add a more upbeat song…..another by Jason Mraz might be nice although I can’t think of any titles right now. That’s one of the problems with being 73!
I quoted you in my journal after reading the excerpts above. You write to help you “figure out what you know for sure” and to “grapple with those questions which have no answers”. That is a lot of why I do and have for years, written in my journal. So many times writing down God’s Word and other’s resonating words, like yours, which have said things better than I could! (-: And NOW, as I continue to struggle with early onset of dementia in my husband’s and our little family’s life, this act of writing has helped me more than I could have known. Thanks for sharing your journey with such poignancy!!
Keep Your Eyes Open by NeedToBreathe is one that has been running through my head recently.
I’ve been following your blog for some time and would love a chance to read your book, and share it with those around me.
Thank you Katrina for sharing yourself with us. No music lately for me…I find that I truly enjoy the quiet, the time for myself.
Hello Katrina, Please count me in. Thank you for your wonderful words. Sometimes you seem to say just exactly what I’m thinking. I look forward to your blog posts and your next book.
Hi Katrina! recently a local talk radio station was switched over to a christian music station. never listened to that genre on the radio before. the first 3 songs included “grace” in them, one being a version of “amazing grace”. More importantly, “grace” has become a keyword for me since reading “The Gift of an Ordinary Day”. That and the notion of “being right vs being nice”. Oh and THANK YOU! I received my cards for all of my sisters and can’t wait to give them your book:)
Just watched the movie “Mama Mia” with my 12 year old daughter on our holiday Monday. Great movie, so much FUN, but the Abba song “Slipping Through My Fingers” fits with all that Katrina writes about. Lines like “sometimes I wish I could freeze the picture and save it” and “I watch her go with that surge of well-known sadness” and “the feeling that I’m losing her forever without really entering her world … I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter.” There are so many lines that speak to me and my place in life now with my oldest son a Freshman in college, the next son a sophomore in high school and my little girl, having just started middle school, in sixth grade. I have so many sweet, sad, mixed-up emotions. My daughter and I just snuggled closely during this song in the movie and I was so happy to have her there and thankful for my three beautiful children. Katrina’s words so speak to me on so many levels — thank you for the words, the thoughts, the inspirations, the music, the images and also the recipes!
FYI, never thought I’d praise an Abba song in my life! I couldn’t stand their music when I was young, I thought it was so commercial, sappy and silly. Now I can enjoy what they did with it in this oh-so-fun and sweet movie/musical:).
I’ve listened to “Forever Young” sung by Rod Stewart over & over in May of 2012. It was during the time of my firstborn son’s high graduation. I love the line: “and whatever road you choose, I’m right behind you win or lose, forever young”.
I am starting to hear those lyrics again as my second & last son gets prepared for his high school graduation in May.
I have really enjoyed following your journey. One thing I love is that I now have someone as a role model for getting older. Our society seems so youth-obsessed, and it’s refreshing to know that someone else has gone on the path before me and described the details so well. Thank you for sharing!
Count me in. Your words/blog slow me down to think more deeply. Not just skim thru life. Thank you.
I love getting your blogs! I’m afraid I have too many songs to list but one I heard today while driving home from work was “I Want You to Live”. I cry every time.
Hi Katrina, I’m following my friend Patti’s advice to check out your page and new book, if I win a copy of your book, I’m sure to enjoy it, it already appeals to me in so many ways. No children, but probably of the same era and age as you….there is so much to reflect upon now and to go deeply into. The busyness of life is not so interesting now…my music is the sound of birds outside my door or the humming of my dryer, or the audio book I’m listening to as I do chores, but I want to go deeper into this moment and into the quiet. Thanks for sharing and may your book touch hearts and open minds!
I really enjoyed THE GIFT OF AN ORDINARY DAY and look forward to receiving your emails. Your words so often echo my own thoughts and give them value. I would like to win a copy of MAGICAL JOURNEY. One of my favorite listens is DESIDERATA, Les Crane.
Count me in!!
Thank You
Count me in!!
Thank You
Can you think of better advice for your kids then the words to Lee Ann Womack’s “I hope You Dance”???? Just to quote a small piece: “””” I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle for the path of least resistance’ …Livin’ might mean takin’ chances but they’re worth takin’, ….Lovin’ might be a mistake but it’s worth makin’, … Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter, When you come close to sellin’ out reconsider,… Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance… And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance….. I HOPE YOU DANCE!!!!”””” My baby girl is planning (and dreaming) of her Sweet 15s Party in June and this is the song she will be dancing with her Dad – Just like her sister danced with him in the Winter of 2002 – my baby girl will live her dream (and mine) and dance to the same song with her Dad in June of 2014…. This song makes me ‘FEEL’—real emotions within!!
I have several songs that inspire me, of which Landslide is up in my top five as well! (Personally I prefer the Dixie Chicks version) Another one that pops to mind is James Taylor’s “Up on the Roof”. I also quite often find myself pouring my heart out in song while in my car “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked!!
My current anthem songs are Roar by Katy Perry and Let It Go from Frozen.
Count me in! I am currently reading Gift of an Ordinary Day and would love to start this next. Just discovered your writing and blog and loving it. Thank you!
Counting Stars by OneRepublic is in pretty high rotation here. Thanks for the chance to win! Love this book and actually thought I owned it, but went to look for it last night and I must have read it from the library. If I don’t win, I will be ordering it. 🙂
Hello and count me in 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us. It reflects so many feelings that I am going through right beside you. It’s tough when the kids leave home and its back to just my husband and I. My favorite song right now is “Lord I need you”.
I don’t believe it … someone else who has been reduced to tears by the song Landslide. I’m standing right beside you on this one !!
Congratulations Katrina! What’s on my playlist these days–Iz and Hapa (Hawaiian music) It helps me to navigate these New England winters with a sense of the aloha spirit.
Beth
January 27, 2014 at 11:30 am
oh my, what great a songlist and great suggestions! On my secret list: Eva Cassidy’s version of ‘What a Wonderful World’, sung knowing how soon her life would end (Israel Kamakawiwo’le, you’re in here too!); Lou Reed, ‘Perfect Day’, and ‘Magician’, heard during a Terry Gross interview after his death; my son’s former childrens chorus, bringing all the parents to tears with ‘Never Never Land’ (from ‘Peter Pan’, of all things); Hunter Parrish singing ‘Beautiful City’, another version, another time, sung during my wedding so very long ago.
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It’s hard to pick one song, as there are so many I have enjoyed at different stages of my life, but The Sounds of Silence still stirs something deep in me.
Can’t think of a song right now but do love “Landslide” also. I am the same age as you so what you have been writing rings true with me!
I am so excited to have just discovered your blog today. I’ve read all of your books and have recommended them many times to friends and family members. Mitten Strings was life changing for me and inspired me to start a spiritual parenting discussion group that lasted over 5 years. Your wisdom, and your ability to share it so beautifully in writing, has truly inspired me to be a better parent and person. I am looking forward to hearing you speak tonight in Exeter! Thank you for the gift of your writing.
I forgot to mention the song “These are Days” by 10,000 Maniacs. It always reminds me to cherish the moments.
Thanks for reminding me to be in the present, to stop and think and reflec each day. To enjoy the Now. One other go-to song I listen to is Taylor Swift Never Grow Up.
Thanks for inspiring me and so many others!
One other go-to song: Rascal Flatts “My Wish”
Sara Ramirez The Story
This sound tears at my heart strings.
Or try Ruthie Foster Heal Yourself
I Can Only Imagine
The Wind Beneath My Wings-Always brings tears.