ks friday | reverse threading

June 28, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

connected. [k.s. friday]

“wherever you are, that’s where i will be…” the framed needlepoint hangs next to my dresser. every day i see this message, a message of unrelenting connectedness.

life has a way of taking us near and far, to and from the people we love. children grow and fly free. siblings scatter around the world in pursuit of their dreams. parents age and leave this plane of existence. friends are close; friends move far away. i can speak for those of us who are particularly extra-ordinarily thready – these are tough challenges.

on the album RELEASED FROM THE HEART, this piece CONNECTED follows the piece i composed called MISSING. it was a self-reminder when i placed the track order that way. the connection between us eclipses the missing. our connections guarantee that they will surpass missing and wrap around us like soft blankets right out of the dryer. we have to just stand still and feel them.

we had the blissful opportunity of being together with both My Girl and My Boy under the same roof at the same time for a period of days. my annoying-mother-ness took lots of pictures and memorized moments, from hilariously funny to touchingly heart-full to painfully real. the first moments i saw each of them deplane at the tiny island airport will be indelibly sketched in my mind. pure joy.

we are connected. despite our proximity, despite distance from one visit to the next, despite time between, we are connected. i will – comfortingly, reassuringly, lovingly, supportively, annoyingly, and yes, unrelentingly – always be there for them. always.

that is what connection is.

download RELEASED FROM THE HEART on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

CONNECTED from RELEASED FROM THE HEART ©️ 1995 kerri sherwood

June 21, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

it’s real life. [k.s. friday]

lists. we have lists of things to get done today, this weekend, next week. so.much.to.do. “…it’s not just romance, it’s not just spark…it’s not just passion, it’s not just flame…” (lyrics)

we are not alone. real life requires lists. and lots of hard work. together. we lean on each other for the challenges. we hold each other through the really tough stuff.

we just came back from being on an island where we heard a story about the recent high school graduation. there were three (3) graduating seniors. (the school has about 72 students, k-12.) most of the people on island went to this graduation. it lasted two hours, with speeches and personally-chosen-songs played by the graduates and a recessional. it is amazing to think about how many unrelated people watched this ceremony, taking time out of their lives to witness this very important moment in the lives of these young people. it takes a village to raise a child. yes.

but everyone knows everyone there, indirectly if not directly. deb recommended to never say anything negative or derogatory about anyone because they are likely related or best friends to whom you are speaking. she added, and i agree, that “we should always live like that.” there is a shirt in her sweet bookshop that already has my name on it and reads:

as we plan our lists and our calendar for this next crazy week, we can see, ever so clearly, that our own village is here to help us. we lean on each of them for the challenges. they hold us through the really tough stuff. it does take a village. it takes each other. together. that is the stuff of real life.

purchase the CD or download on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

IT’S REAL LIFE from AS SURE AS THE SUN ©️ 2002 kerri sherwood

June 14, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

dawn at crab meadow. [k.s. friday]

it started in complete darkness. i was on stage at the theatre on uw-parkside’s campus. keith, an outstanding and brilliant theatre manager, had programmed lighting that simulated the sunrise, the passionate and increasingly vibrant awakening of the day. it was my release concert of this album – BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL.

i sent this photograph to crunch right after i took it in hilton head. we both have photographs from decades ago that are almost identical to it…a fishing boat as it passes underneath the warming glow of the sun. back in the day, the 70s, crunch and i went everywhere taking pictures. we spent lots of time in his boat, lots of time on beaches. it was a blissful time with our 35mm non-automatic cameras in hand. never sure of how a photograph would look, well before the digital age, we took lots of extra film with us, anxious to see the results later. although i can see the benefits of digital work now, the ease, the preview capacity, the chance to take-another-picture-because-this-one-didn’t-come-out-good, i also remember the mystery, the anticipatory waiting for the film to be developed and the fact that although not all photographs were perfect, it was sometimes the misses that were the jewels.

we watched the sun rise in hilton head every day. the sky would brighten with hope, even on a cloudy morning. the tide would answer, the shore birds would wake. i held close knowing my grown children were sleeping under the same roof, right there. and a new day started.

i spent many an early morning on crab meadow beach, sometimes having climbed the fence to get onto the sand, my treasured yashica in hand. the dawn there gave me pause, invited reflection and centering, beckoned me with hope and dreams to come.

keith raised the sunrise-lights until the ‘sun’ was high in the sky, escalating as the music did. and DAWN AT CRAB MEADOW was released.

download BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

DAWN AT CRAB MEADOW from BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL ©️ 1996 kerri sherwood

June 7, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

baby steps. [k.s. friday]

i’m glad my sweet momma saved these, my first soft leather pre-stride-rite walking shoes. they hang in my studio and are a literal reminder that everything is accomplished by first taking baby steps. leaps are optional. long jumps, ridiculous.

as we embark on some new adventures, i keep reminding myself of this. regardless of age, the idea of learning new things can be daunting and exhilarating, both. we step with commitment and with a willingness to bend and be fluid like reeds in the wind. we hold fast to past lessons and apply them generously where they fit and we recognize when new wisdom will serve us better. we step confidently and tenderly. both.

my beautiful niece chose BABY STEPS as the piece that started her wedding on the beach. the wedding party all walked barefoot through the sand to this music as we witnessed and supported heather and brian starting their new journey, one baby step at a time.

it all starts with baby steps. one tiny footfall at a time. speed matters not. it’s all forward motion.

purchase RIGHT NOW CD or download on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

BABY STEPS from RIGHT NOW ©️ 2010 kerri sherwood

May 17, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

be thou my vision. lento. rubato. [k.s. friday]

were i to record this old reassuring hymn BE THOU MY VISION again, i would play it much, much slower. not the andante of the recording, the tempo of singing these verses. instead, i would realize that this kind of guidance doesn’t necessarily happen in my version of time but, instead, in the universe’s version of time. much, much slower.

it was 15 years ago, back in 2004, when i sat on a leather piano bench at yamaha artist services in nyc recording this piece and the others on the hymn albums. i was 45. things seem to move a lot faster at 45; expectations are impatient, conflict needs quick resolution rather than measured, thoughtful parsing.

now, 15 years later, i realize that slow is key. the right answers don’t come fast. much as we want quick, answers take their sweet time. we ask for guidance and wish for an immediate sticky note to float down in front of us. we, d and i, can tell you, if you don’t already know, that just doesn’t happen. post-it notes were created on earth and any sticky note floating down from the heavens, the vision we so desperately seek, is invisible. it shows itself, slowly, in how things begin to fit together, how it feels. slowly.

we were at the music store in town a couple days ago. kevin, the owner and one of our favorite people to hang and chat with, asked us what was new. we laughed, not ready to share all that has been happening, but described an ever-changing picture. he asked us if it felt like “all the pieces were falling into place easily.” although i wouldn’t choose any form of the word ‘easy’ to depict our sticky-notes-requested-scenario, we can also say we haven’t been force-fitting square pegs into round holes. “then it’s supposed to be,” he said. he told the loaded-with-sticky-notes story of buying the music store, fraught with challenges, but so meant to be. it’s not in our time. our expected tempo of things happening has, we can see, nothing to do with it.

so, lento. lento would be the way to play this. slowly. taking sweet time. and rubato. freely. for in the gift of vision is sweet freedom: the ability to take a breath, recognize, regardless of our age, how little we really know, sit in purple adirondack chairs, go beyond the jetty and count on a benevolent universe.

purchase ALWAYS WITH US CD or download on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

BE THOU MY VISION from ALWAYS WITH US VOL 1 ©️ 2004 kerri sherwood

May 10, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

this heart outside of mine. [k.s. friday]

“…it overwhelms me what i feel…this heart outside of mine….is walking in another person, in another life…” (lyrics)

there is something mysterious and knock-you-to-your-knees-powerful about feeling like you have a heart walking in another person. i know – now – how my sweet momma felt. each time she asked me to let her know i arrived safely while driving cross-country, each time i shared good news, each time she checked in on me after any sort of gritty life-drama, each time she sent cards with messages of encouragement or congratulations, each time i saw her try not to weep upon my leaving. i get it. she could feel her heart – out there – moving around in the world, just outside her sight view.

motherhood is not for wimps. it is, by far, the most gratifyingly-toughest-most-important job i will ever know. i have had to grow two extra hearts and then let them go, wandering and exploring this good earth, finding themselves and their happiness. i can feel it, these hearts – out there. but, with the exception of the time i can actually put my arms around My Girl or My Boy, it’s all just outside my sight view. overwhelming. yes.

and, although i have told it before, here is the story – again:

we walked The Girl to kindergarten. it was spring and sunny and warm. dandelions were everywhere. on the way home, The Boy dropped my hand to toddler-zigzag around a yard where dandelions > grass by far (kind of like ours.) he bent down and picked yellow flower upon yellow flower. until he came running back to me. he held up his sweaty-dirty-little-boy fist, full of bright yellow and green dandelions and said, “woses for momma.”

better than roses. what more could a momma want?

that is the moment this song was born.

happy mother’s day.

purchase the CD or download on iTunes or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

my hearts

FISTFUL OF DANDELIONS from THE BEST SO FAR ©️ 1999 kerri sherwood

May 3, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

part of the wind. [k.s. friday]

with the sun not yet up over the farmlands, the hot air balloon lifted. we slowly sailed over fields and stands of trees, watching the world wake up. as the sun rose over the horizon, we could hear what was going on below us. we weren’t that high up and any conversation in backyards and barns, on patios and decks or driveways was easy to hear. we weren’t intentionally eavesdropping; you just can’t help but hear clearly up there in the wind. it’s an amazing vantage point floating low in the sky, sharing the sunrise with the earth, an endless horizon. a little wary, i had asked the pilot if he had any anti-motion apothecary suggestions. he responded by telling me that none are needed, that you are “part of the wind.” we were. we are. part of the wind.

when we go antiquing and wander around in vast collections of other people’s lives, we pass by paintings on the walls and in stacks against cabinets, displayed beautifully and piled haphazardly. we stand in front of bins full of records and 45’s, stacks of CDs not even alphabetized, the vinyl and polycarbonate/aluminum blend all beckoning us to sort through and remember songs or moments in time. and we, artists of the canvas and of song, draw in our breath. it’s an amazing vantage point floating here in time, sharing this day with the earth, contemplating.

and we wonder if this is where all of our paintings and cds will end up one day…in an antique shop where browsers will pass by, exclaiming, “wow! look at all those paintings!” or “wow! look at all those cds!” we wonder if they will stop, page through, recognize a track or two, an image or two, or if they will be curious or spellbound and buy something to bring home. perhaps we will remain part of the stacks, the bins, ever-growing, the horizon endless.

either way, we are part of the wind.

download BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

April 26, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 Leave a comment

adrift. [k.s. friday]

“from a visual place…adrift on long island sound late-night. from an emotional place…living in the gray.” (liner notes – blueprint for my soul, 1996)

the gray. it sounds dismal. but gray is not devoid of color. if you mix the three primary colors together – red, yellow and blue – and then add white, you will hone the gray of your choosing. if you have ever stood in front of color samples at home depot or menards you know that gray, itself, spans a full spectrum. so many choices. all gray. the only thing really pertinent about gray is that it isn’t just black and white. it swirls together every color of experience, every emotion, every laugh and every tear. it is not defined by distinct edges, but blurs one moment into the next.

the word ‘adrift’ sounds inactive. but, in this vast world, aren’t we pretty much adrift? we believe we are proactive; we act on things we believe in. and yet. we bounce off turbulent waves threatening to destroy us; we ride others into the beach. we sit in calm waters and we try to navigate the waters that toss us wildly. we make decisions in moments of incomplete information; we have successes, we have regrets. we are adrift in the gray.

in moments of sunshine on trails in the woods i feel less adrift and more centered, more clear. it’s the rest of the moments when i try my best to ‘go with the flow’. we are surrounded by unknowns, caught in many an eddy. we are uncertain, but we are all capable. we are held in glimmering gossamer silks of grace by a universe that is benevolent. adrift.

download on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

April 12, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 1 Comment

the two of you. [k.s. friday]

the two of you: two reasons why i breathe ~ my children (cd liner notes)

this will never change. most of the things i gather around me are things that make me think of them, feel them near. it’s as simple as framed photographs or collages or a peace keychain or lanyards that say ‘colorado’ and ‘boston’. it’s a screenshot of a text message i want to remember. it’s a note jotted on my calendar about something My Girl or My Boy said to me or a date that is important to them i want to remember. it’s notes they wrote as children held by magnets to the refrigerator or in small frames bedside. it’s laughter saved in a video. it’s moments of tears driving away from their homes. it’s a rock saved on a hike in the high desert canyonlands with The Girl; it’s The Boy’s childhood favorite ny taxi pencil on my piano. nothing is huge. everything is huge.

most of my also-mom-friends will agree that, outside of spending time together, the one thing certain to lift them up on any given day is a reaching-out-to-them by a grown-up child. it’s the moment ANYthing else stops. it’s the silently-agreed-upon, strictly-held-to and always-welcome interruption in the middle of visiting others, working, hiking, cooking, sleeping. both The Girl and The Boy knew – and know – that they can call or text at any time of day or night and i will be there; i will answer. ‘always there’ is a fierce inner motherhood promise designed to both ground and frustrate children, whatever their ages. it’s a guiding principle, a mom-creed. it’s absolute. it’s truth.

from the moment they were born everything changed. and, from that moment on, one thing didn’t. the two of you ~ two reasons why i breathe ~ my children. ❤️

download AS IT IS on iTUNES or CDBaby

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

March 29, 2019
by kerrisherwood11 1 Comment

tomorrow. lettuce and erle. [k.s. friday]

one of the gifts i received for my 60th birthday this week – an envelope with seed packets of lettuces in it, dirt and manure. on the outside of the envelope of seeds was this:

“to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” (audrey hepburn)

early november. moab, utah. i was standing on the precipice of a vast and deep canyon and was filled with wonder. My Girl encouraged me a bit further out, a bit higher. she was right to push me. the gorge inches away, unforgiving, i didn’t lose my breath until the very edge. but i breathed in so much more. i felt like ME. me, in my old hiking boots and ripped jeans, a couple black layered shirts and a vest, fingerless gloves linda made. ME. the air of the high desert mountains seemed to fill me and, as i stood there, pondering my very existence in this place, i felt renewed. a meeting ground, i could feel all the yesterdays that brought me there and the tomorrows that stretched forward. it is a spiritual place. she was right and i tied my heart to it just as she had predicted. the sun and i were each merely a tiny piece of the enormity. we watched day end and shadows paint the canyon walls until dark filled the void. we laughed uncontrollably. i cried. no matter what, the next day – tomorrow – would come to that place and sun would spackle the walls until it would -again- be light.

THIS will be the next album cover. in some tomorrow time. i wish to bring burning sun and immense canyons into that project. mountains and Spirit and old boots. a bow to yesterday and to tomorrow and the place inbetween. the air in me. i don’t know when or exactly how. i just know i need to somehow make the chance. i need to stand on the very edge, once again. it matters not whether i am relevant in these times. it just matters that i plant it. lettuce, here i come.

read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

thank you to old friends who called or texted or FB-messaged me this week. i can’t begin to tell you what you mean to me. with love.

www.kerrisherwood.com

iTunes: kerri sherwood

reverse threading

the path back is the path forward

Tag Archives: ks friday

connected. [k.s. friday]

it’s real life. [k.s. friday]

dawn at crab meadow. [k.s. friday]

baby steps. [k.s. friday]

be thou my vision. lento. rubato. [k.s. friday]

this heart outside of mine. [k.s. friday]

part of the wind. [k.s. friday]

adrift. [k.s. friday]

the two of you. [k.s. friday]

tomorrow. lettuce and erle. [k.s. friday]

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: