June is my birthday month. Typically I have a tendency to get in a pretty nasty pre and post birthday funk. This year I decided to make it a goal to NOT do the birthday blues dance and, surprisingly, I succeeded.
I am happy to report that I had a lovely birthday and even though I had to cancel a gathering with friends at the last minute due to a minor injury, I still had a great day and have been enjoying spending time with folks one-on-one as the birthday expands throughout the month-as it tends to do. I am proud of myself for avoiding the funk, practicing self-compassion, and not even letting my injury get me down.
Take Your Time is a lesson I received last year on my birthday that has really stuck with me. On the anniversary of getting this message loud and clear, I find that I am being asked to take it to the next level. While the odds are in my favor to fully recover, spinal cord injuries are unpredictable and can take a long time to heal. Your body is literally healing and building new neural pathways and nerve growth is notoriously slow. So I have to take my time with this recovery. I have to stay in the present and do the best I can one day at a time. This is a key lesson that I forget all the time, but I get daily reminders forcing me to remember. It reminds me of a Tom Waits song.
“And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget.
That history puts a saint in every dream
Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit.
And Matilda asks the sailors "are those dreams or are those prayers?"
So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit.
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time.”
Speaking of time, I realized it’s time to let go of my urban minstrel tagline. Once upon a time a friend described me as the urban minstrel, what it meant to her - and to me at that time - was the idea of a person traveling from city to city singing songs and telling stories.
I still love the idea of being a storytelling musician traveling through cities, but I have become aware that both urban and minstrel have other meanings that are racialized and don't fit with who I am. Knowing that, it makes sense to drop the tagline and move forward as Bekah Barnett Music. I've updated my website and all my social media channels to reflect that. If you're following me, everything redirects so you will still be getting updates from me.
Releasing and renewing feels good. Feels appropriate. I’m getting ready to release some new music and some music videos soon. I did a lot of songwriting during the quarantimes and I’m eager to release some of this new material. I also am eager to get back to my virtual shows on Stage It (there’s one coming up in August) and my With a Little Help From My Friends benefits on Zoom. Check out my shows page for all the details.
There will be much more to come soon. Thank you for reading this, for caring, and as always, beautiful people, thank you for listening.
Love & Music
Bekah 💖🎶🌈