Every day, we are bombarded with information. The media we consume and our social media algorithms determine our perception of reality. Everywhere we look, we are flooded with other people’s opinions. In a world of so much noise, it can be difficult to get quiet and listen to our intuition. Personally, it all feels quite overwhelming. How can you ever know what is real?

False Information

In the past few years, artificial intelligence has added to this storm of information. AI can be an excellent tool for brainstorming, proofreading, or marketing, but it often hallucinates and presents fiction as facts. Attorneys are referring to cases that don’t exist, newspapers are printing fake reading lists with made-up books, and journals are citing fake academic papers. So not only is AI hallucinating and fabricating results, but people are trusting this information without double-checking.

As if that weren’t enough, social media is flooded with fake videos, bots, and fake influencers. It’s difficult to tell what is true and what is a lie. The good news is that all of the fake information forces us to turn within and listen to the inner voice.

External Sources

Most of us tend to value the opinions of our friends and our family. And while people have always sought external validation rather than turning within, many of us have added “strangers on the internet” to the list of outside opinions we consider. And now many of those strangers may not even be real people.

Don’t get me wrong. You should always listen to the advice your loved ones give you. But then you may need to sit with it for a moment to determine how to act in the most authentic way. And I'm also not saying there aren't times when you need the opinions of experts to make an informed decision: asking a doctor for medical advice, seeking an attorney for legal advice, or relying on teachers to learn how to perform a new task. Unfortunately, listening to experts now requires more research, double-checking, and sometimes second (or even third!) opinions. This can be time-consuming, but discovering the truth is invaluable.

Listening to the Still, Small Voice

So how do you get in touch with your inner wisdom? One thing that has always worked for me is journaling. 

The best way to examine your thoughts is to be aware of them. For many people, writing these thoughts out can be a way to better understand them. Once you have written them out, you can ask yourself, “Is this what I really believe or is this someone else’s voice (family, friends, or even society) in my head?”

There are times when we don’t know how we feel or what we think about a certain situation. In this case, it can be quite illuminating to write in a stream of consciousness style. This is where you write down every single thought you have. So it might be something like “I wonder where we are going to lunch tomorrow. That Mexican restaurant might be good. Or maybe pizza. Wow, now I’m hungry.”  

You may be wondering what the point of writing that out is. The goal here is not compelling or riveting writing; the goal here is to just keep writing. I find when I write down all the mundane thoughts, it isn’t long before I start writing about deeper subjects. And if some big decision is on my mind, I will almost always end up writing about that. 

If you allow yourself to be completely honest and look at all the boring, ordinary thoughts floating through your mind, it will be easier to have an awareness of the deeper thoughts and feelings that may be subconscious. 

Physically writing may not work for everyone. When most people think of journaling, they picture handwriting in a fancy journal, but this could also mean typing or scribbling down your thoughts in a cheap spiral notebook. You may want to try other methods of journaling like recording an audio journal or letting yourself doodle subconsciously.

Using Outside Inspiration

Sometimes, it can be helpful for me to use Bible verses, oracle cards, or music as a starting point to help me begin the journaling process and listen to my intuition. (Yes, I love the Bible and oracle cards. What of it?)

Music can be excellent inspiration for me. Lately, I have been setting aside an hour or two every week to do a journaling exercise I call “Follow the Song.” I make a playlist and put it on shuffle (or sometimes I have someone else make me a playlist or even use a custom playlist/radio station created for me by Apple Music) and then I just write stream of consciousness to the music. 

So I may start by writing what the current song reminds me of or I may write about the lyrics, but eventually, I get into the same stream of consciousness journaling that I find to be so helpful.

In the end, the flood of questionable information is an invitation to deepen our reliance on the one source that never hallucinates or deceives: the living presence of Spirit within us. For me, journaling has always been the best way to connect to Spirit. 

When I commit to this simple practice of turning inward, I don’t just become better at spotting falsehoods; I become a clearer channel for wisdom, compassion, and authentic living. In a noisy world, choosing silence is an act of faith. And in that sacred quiet, we can remember who we truly are.

Like many people these days, I have recently found myself scrolling through social media on my phone. I was wasting way too much time, and it was taking over my life. Whenever I had idle moments, I would pull out my phone. And then one day (about a month ago), I deleted all of the social media apps.

There are still reasons to use social media. I like sharing a “song of the day” on my Instagram stories. There are several groups on Facebook about various subjects (ataxia, writing, Taylor Swift) where I often learn great tips or interesting news. I enjoy posting graphics about all the books I've read during the month. I also enjoy staying in touch with friends and family, especially those I don't get to see regularly. Also, ever since I was promoting my music on MySpace, I've always had some artistic project to promote so there was always this idea in the back of my head that I had to have a presence on social media. 

But none of those things require being on social media more than once or twice a week. (Or five minutes a day in the case of posting my “song of the day.") And most of the time, I wasn't using it in a productive way. I was spending way too much time reading posts from random people I don't know--getting upset about all the divisive things (that these companies constantly show you because anger keeps people on these platforms).

I decided I needed a break. Sure, there are positive uses of social media, but I hadn't been prioritizing any of them, so I decided they could all wait. I didn't just need a break from social media; I needed to shift my perspective on it.

The first few days or so, it felt almost like trying to quit smoking or any other addictive behavior. I found myself constantly wanting to open those apps. Initially, I started opening my Kindle app and reading one of the hundreds of ebooks on my TBR. And then eventually, I realized I wasn't looking at my phone as much. 

I found myself looking around more and paying more attention to the things in front of me. I started looking out the window more when riding in the passenger seat, I paid more attention to beauty in my environment, I was more present with the people I was with in person, and I was more productive. After about a week of this, I felt like I had a lot more space--in my life, in my mind, in my world. 

Social media in and of itself is not bad. Smartphones in and of themselves are not bad. They are tools. But these tools work better for me if I pick them up to use them for a specific task and then put them down, like an actual tool. (Can you imagine if everyone walked around constantly staring at and being distracted by a hammer?)

And I think I needed that time away from social media to change the role of the phone in my life. Now I pick up my phone to turn the lights on or send a text message or look at my email if I have a notification. But I don't just idly scroll through Instagram Reels or constantly open my email even when I don't have any notifications. 

And now that I have made this shift, I do feel like I can resume my “song of the day” posts or my monthly book graphics or even checking in on friends and family without wasting time endlessly scrolling. 

I know not everyone has this problem with social media or the phone, but so many people do. Next time you are out anywhere, pay attention to how many people are doing nothing except staring at their phones. 

The smartphone can be a wonderful tool. Some apps will help you do practically anything, you can learn anything you want, and it makes it easy to stay in touch with anyone--no matter where you are in the world. But the next time you use your phone to do any of those things, after you are finished, put your phone down and look up at the world around you.

From Pocket the Moon “Rooftops” video - 2011

I have always been a singer. I have always loved music. I have always been the person to make people mixtapes… and then mix CDs…. and then playlists. I was in an all-girl band in high school and from the years of 2003 to 2014, I played gigs both as a singer/songwriter and as the singer (and sometimes also guitar player/keyboard player/even bass player on one song!) of various bands. 

In the summer of 2020, I played an acoustic gig that I live-streamed from my living room, but since then, I have barely sung at all. Recently, I tried to sing at karaoke. It did not sound great. Granted, it wasn't the best song choice for my range, karaoke is never the ideal singing setup, and no one cares if you sound good at karaoke. But this was the first time I had tried to sing in probably years, and I wasn't expecting it to be so difficult. In the past, even if I was a little rusty, I could usually get it together enough by the end of the song to at least hit an impressive note or two, but that definitely was not the case this time. Since then, I have tried singing along with the radio when I'm driving occasionally--songs I used to cover frequently--and I wasn't really able to. It sounded nothing like it used to. 

People have told me I'm just out of practice, and if I worked at it, I would be able to sing. That may be true. I'm sure if I practiced really hard every day, I could get my voice back to sounding good at least some of the time. But I have an obstacle that most people don't.

I have a rare genetic neurologic condition called spinocerebellar ataxia. The condition mainly affects balance and coordination, but it can also impact vocal chords, speech, swallowing, etc. Even when I was at the tail end of my time as a singer, when my SCA symptoms first started presenting, there were a few times I was in the middle of a song at a show and my voice would completely cut out. I had no idea it was probably SCA-related at the time; I was just embarrassed. 

The absolute last time I sang was at Unity North Atlanta two years ago. I sang one song with a group and the other song was “It Is Well” by Bethel Music (which features the old hymn “It is Well with My Soul”) but it was not a song that required a wide range or anything. At the height of my singing career, I could have halfassed rehearsing the song a few times and sounded okay. (I mean, I wouldn't have done that, but I could have.) I started realizing things were changing when I thought about how much time and effort I had to put into practicing that one song.

I kind of thought of that performance as my “farewell to singing,” and I got a little emotional at the end because of it. I also got emotional for other reasons that related specifically to the song I was singing (which is another blog post).

I recently thought about an interview I saw once on Oprah with Julie Andrews. This was after the surgery she had on vocal nodules that left her voice damaged. By this point, she had started publishing children's books, and she said that she was still singing now; it was just in a different way.

Now don't get me wrong, I am in no way comparing myself to Julie Andrews! But if someone with one of the world's best voices could come to a point of peace about not having the voice she once had, it gave me a little hope that someday I would find acceptance about mine.

I have always been someone who's loved too many things artistically. At one point, I was an actress, a dancer, a musical theatre performer, an indie rocker, a playwright, a novelist, a screenwriter, a poet. But eventually, it whittled down to music and writing. I was getting to a place where it was becoming virtually impossible to try to “make it” as a singer/songwriter and a writer. It's hard enough to work a day job while trying to make it as just one of those things, and the music industry becomes almost impossible to break into for women over the age of 35… or even 30. So when I played my last real gig on my 29th birthday at Smith's Olde Bar, I chose writing over music. 

Still, I sang at church, I sang at karaoke, and I sang in the car, but eventually, I stopped. I think I must have known my voice would be different on some level, but I wasn't forced to face this fact until recently. And now it feels like I have lost a part of my identity.

In 2021, I wrote, “Music is a part of me as much as breathing is or walking. And whether I’m singing at church, writing a story or play about music, or maybe eventually even venturing into an open mic night again, I can’t give singing up.” 

And maybe I'm no longer singing in the car. Maybe I won't be singing at karaoke. Maybe I don't sing at church anymore. But I'm still singing. I'm singing every time I write a character who loves music as much as I do. I'm singing every time I make someone a playlist of songs I love. I'm singing even when I'm just rocking out to a song I love and lip-syncing silently. It's just a different melody. You might not be able to hear it with your ears, but if you listen with your spirit, you will.

I spent Friday and Saturday at the New England Writing Workshop. (It was virtual.) It was extremely helpful and productive. I got feedback on the query letter I've been using to query agents for FINDING BALANCE, I got to pitch three amazing agents about the novel, and there were tons of helpful classes and panels about craft, marketing, and publishing. 

Overall, it was an incredible experience, and it gave me a lot of ideas about how to revise my novel. I have been querying agents about FINDING BALANCE since the beginning of the year, but this has revitalized my querying process.

I was asked once why I felt the need to continue to read writing craft books and to continue to attend workshops, classes, and other writing events even though I had a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing. The short answer is that when it comes to writing, you are never done learning. 

So if you are thinking about ways you might want to improve your writing, here are a few things you might want to try:

Attend Events

There are a million writing workshops and conferences that you can attend. Some of them are in person, but many of them are either online or offer an online version of the conference. 

If you are able to pitch literary agents at these events, I highly recommend that. When you are simply sending out cold query letters, you will often get a form rejection letter or maybe even no response at all. You won't typically get a lot of specific feedback about your story. But these pitch sessions allow you a chance to get some immediate feedback which can be invaluable.

Here are some you may want to check out:

Writing Day Workshops

Gotham Writers Conferences

Written Word Media List of 2025 Conferences

Take Classes

There are so many writing classes you can take. There are many colleges and universities that even offer free classes, but there are also organizations like The Writing Barn that have both in-person and online classes frequently. 

Online Creative Writing Courses Taught for Free By Universities

Coursera Writing Courses

Udemy Writing Courses

Read Writing Craft Books

There are so many amazing writing craft books out there. Books about storytelling, character development, dialogue, emotional tone, etc. Here are some of my favorites:

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives by Lajos Egri

Enjoy Free Online Content

There are about a million writing podcasts and writing YouTube Channels. In fact there are so many, I plan to do another blog entry linking to them. But for now, I'll just share a few of my favorites.

The Creative Penn

Grammar Girl

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

Writing with Jenna Moreci

I hope these suggestions are helpful to you and your writing journey. Go forth! Happy writing!

Recently, I was contacted by a “book marketing service.” The woman who contacted me (well, the photo on her Google account was a woman anyway) said many wonderful things about my book We Own the Sky, and she said quite a few flattering things about how much potential she thought The Muse Chronicles had and that they could reach a lot of new readers if I put some effort into marketing them.

This was already something I knew. I spent a great deal of time in the past trying to market my independently published titles, but ever since I got a day job that felt more like a career to me than just a “job” in late 2022, I have barely put any money, time, or effort into marketing my books. 

It did occur to me that AI could have helped her put together everything she had to say about my book, or she could even have come up with her remarks by reading all of the reviews for my book on Amazon, but she had some great marketing ideas.

I went back and forth with her several times over email, not thinking it was weird that she always wrote me back IMMEDIATELY, even on weekends or holidays, not thinking it was weird that she never gave me a company name, not even checking her email address (which was gmail!). It wasn't until she refused to send me an invoice and she requested multiple times for me to send a payment as “friends and family” on PayPal to another gmail address that I realized it was probably a scam. 

Although this episode was embarrassing, it did inspire me to revisit my indie titles. I've been working so hard on querying literary agents about my newest women's fiction novel--a genre that I believe does better in traditional publishing--and starting a new nonfiction book about journaling that I have barely even thought of my indie books in years. 

I wanted to write a blog post about this because people get scammed every day. Actually scammed when they give up money that they never see again. Scammers are getting better and better at disguising themselves, creating email addresses and websites that look legit or even creating Google Ads that make them look like real companies. Google usually takes these down, but by the time they take them down, it's possible they have already gotten some people to fall for it. 

We all get embarrassed when we fall for these things, but it happens to everyone. Unless you literally question every interaction you have throughout the day, and most of us just aren't that skeptical. 

I wanted to tell you about my experience so those of you who've recently fallen for something like this will not be embarrassed. Sometimes these things happen to us so that we can learn valuable lessons and pay attention to areas of our lives we need to pay more attention to. 

So the next time you start to fall for something like this--hopefully you won't get to the point where you actually lose money--ask yourself if there's a reason you wanted to believe something you knew was probably too good to be true. This is why these kind of scams tend to work on indie authors. Because it takes so much work to constantly market your books, and sometimes it's nice to believe someone would reach out and offer to help you with marketing. But now that I've realized this, expect me to do more to market my indie books. 

Welcome to 2025! 

I cut my social media usage way down last year. I still occasionally check Instagram, X, or Facebook (okay it's REALLY occasional with Facebook) but I keep it to a minimum. I just couldn't handle all the division and negativity last year, especially given that I am friends with all sorts of people with all sorts of beliefs. 

I haven't been writing my own updates very often and so one of my goals is to be more consistent about updating this blog. I also haven't had as much to say about my author journey as I've been working on the same novel for three to four years. I need one more round of micro-revisions to polish it up before I start querying literary agents so I'll be sure to post updates about that. Although all of my books are currently published independently, I want to pursue the traditional publishing route with this one first as it's general fiction as opposed to genre fiction (like fantasy or science fiction) and that tends to be a better path for those books.

I was recently updating some of my ebooks, and I was reading through my book of poems from 2021 called Slip Away. It's a book of poems about loss and the process of grief. I know that sounds like a bummer but by the end, I discovered loss is an illusion. It's real on the human level, but on a deeper, spiritual level, we can never lose anyone as we are all one. It was a good time for me to revisit this collection.

So as a gift for the new year, my box set ebook with three collections of poems--Coiled and Swallowed, Driving Downtown to the Show, and Slip Away--will be free from Monday, January 6th through Friday, January 10th. And you can read all three books for free indefinitely on Kindle Unlimited. 

Coiled and Swallowed is a collection of personal poems that weave together a collage of moments--from an ode to carpet to a fantastical friendship with a vampire to chronicles of a first love now broken. And Driving Downtown to the Show is an eclectic collection of poems that captures the essence of a young musician's life--from a pantoum about an overdose to odes to mix CDs to moments spent daydreaming at the coffee shop. Every poem in this collection features the name of a band that played in Atlanta venues in 2011, and a profound love of music is captured throughout.

Check out the free box set ebook here.

I also miss seeing the positive updates from everyone--whether it's friends from college or grad school, people who go to my Unity church, or even people I only met once or twice at a writing or music event. I miss seeing your wins, your successes. I miss seeing pictures of your pets or hearing about awards your kids have won. 

I don't really do New Year resolutions, but I would say I have “intentions” for the year (which are maybe just a different word for resolutions?). One intention that I have is to connect with more people beyond the comments and likes. So really if you want to reach out to me via email or DM on Facebook, Instagram, or X (I even made a Bluesky when that was trending a while ago though I'm already having to remind myself to update it!) and just send me a picture of your dog or share a random piece of news or just share your thoughts about that new album you love, I would honestly love that. Sometimes it might take me a minute to respond, but I always will eventually! 

So Happy New Year! Enjoy some poetry! (And I mean that for everyone, no matter who you voted for.)

Long time, no see right?

Ever since I started working for Unity World Headquarters about two years ago, I haven't been putting much effort into my artistic projects. Well, not marketing them anyway. I have been writing--although it has been slow going.

I'm still working on the novel I was talking about in 2021 on the Find Creative Expression podcast. Most of my previous novels have not taken me nearly as long, but I did completely rewrite the book. So it's almost like I wrote two books! 

I'm spending the rest of the year polishing it up, and then the plan is to start querying literary agents in January. I am an indie author, yes, but this is an adult contemporary novel that would just be shelved in the generic “fiction” section at the bookstore. So I want to pursue the traditional route with this book first. 

Hopefully, I will have more information about this one soon! It's about a Broadway performer who loses her balance due to spinocerebellar ataxia (a rare neurologic condition that I have) and has to move back in with her parents (who she hasn't spoken to in eight years) in Atlanta and find a new career. 

Don't worry, that's not the ACTUAL elevator pitch, but I just wanted to give y'all the update.

Anyway, I've been so deeply involved with my day job over the past two years, I haven't worked much on the artistic stuff. I absolutely love my job, and I'm so grateful to have a job helping to spread the message of Unity. I'm actually studying to become a Licensed Unity Teacher right now, and the classes I am taking for that have been so incredibly rewarding.

But I have missed all the artistic projects. I actually re-strung my guitar the other day and I've slowly been trying to get back into playing music (something I haven't done since my August 2020 acoustic show I livestreamed from my living room.) 

I also miss having an outlet to talk to other artists like with the Find Creative Expression podcast or even a place to talk about music, books, TV, and films I really love like on my YouTube Channel. So I may be starting the YouTube Channel back up soon. 

In such a divisive time where tensions seem to be so high, I really love talking about one thing we all have in common: the love of art/entertainment and creativity. I loved knowing that all the artists I used to talk to on my podcast had VASTLY different beliefs and opinions, but I connected with all of them regarding their creative process. It was such an inspirational and uplifting time for me! So I would love to make videos again talking about my own creative process, what albums or books I'm obsessing over, and maybe some tips for other creatives.

So I just wanted to give y'all the update and tell you about what's been going on with me. Feel free to check out my books, THE MUSE CHRONICLES, TIME AFTER TIME, and INTO THE SHADOWS. (My goal is to get back to the Shadow Vampires and put out book 2 sometime in 2025 by the way!) I also have a free writing craft book, THE 30-DAY WRITING CHALLENGE: BEGIN OR ENHANCE YOUR DAILY WRITING HABIT, and three books of poems, COILED AND SWALLOWED, DRIVING DOWNTOWN TO THE SHOW, and SLIP AWAY. 

And in case any of you are interested, here are some of my favorite articles I have written for Unity World Headquarters.

Thank you for staying up-to-date with what's going on with me! I hope to have some artistic news for you soon!

Did you know there are book trailers for all three books in The Muse Chronicles? 

I taught myself video editing, mainly for the YouTube Channel where I made videos about writing, my favorite music, and my favorite books. I had so much fun creating these video trailers for these books I loved so much. To this day, the three books in The Muse Chronicles are my favorite books I've written. Anyone who reads them can see how much of myself I put into them.

We Own the Sky  trailer

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming  trailer

You and the Night  trailer

You can download We Own the Sky for free! Or you can learn more about The Muse Chronicles. 

My young adult 1980s time travel novel, Time After Time, is available again in e-book, print, and audiobook with a new cover designed by Olive Reekie. It's available here on the website or your favorite book retailer. 

Megan Gallagher has only ever seen her mother as neurotic and overworked.

When a Whitney Houston song at the 80s dance sends Megan back to 1987, she discovers her teenage mom dressed in all black and sneaking liquor in the bathroom.

After preventing her mom’s drunk car accident, Megan realizes she has one month to get her teenage parents to stop partying and learn enough about her family’s secret to get back home.

Too bad the much cuter teenage version of her history teacher is such a distraction. With time running out and her future at stake, Megan must learn that, when it comes to family, you can’t always get what you want but you might just get what you need.

"A fast-paced novel about love and family and the 1980s that manages to be both totally tubular and amazingly poignant. Crawford is one to watch.” - Carrie Jones, NYT Bestselling Author of Need

Anyone who talks to me for two seconds can usually tell how important art is to me. I have tried basically every kind of art: fiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, making videos, graphic design, painting, acting, directing, dancing, singing, playing guitar/keyboard/ukulele, and writing songs. And I even did a podcast for over a year where I talked about art and creativity with artists. When I'm not creating art, I'm usually doing something creative like crocheting, decoupaging, coloring in adult coloring books, etc.

I've taken some forms of art more seriously than others. But the common theme in my life has been the importance of storytelling (through books, plays, films, TV) and the importance of music. Ever since I sang in a little version of Little Red Riding Hood in fourth grade, I have tried actively to be a singer and writer of songs. I was an acoustic singer/songwriter for 15 years or so, and I was in bands off and on from 2000 to 2012. 

But around 2012 or 2013, I started to sense my window of time to be a singer or musician was closing, especially as a woman nearing her thirties. I had just graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing, and I decided to essentially give up my dream of ever being a “successful” singer to 100% pursue being a “successful” writer. (My idea of success has since shifted a lot - which is why I put quotation marks around the word.)

My love for music has never gone anywhere. I still have almost 300 playlists on Spotify, I also use Apple Music (because it sounds better on my headphones), I ask everyone I meet to name their favorite bands and albums so I can get to know them better, I often say “making playlists is my love language,” and I listen to music literally all the time - throughout the work day, in the shower, while sleeping, etc. You can also see my love for music clearly in anything I write--especially The Muse Chronicles trilogy, my play The Spins, and it's definitely there in my work in progress (which I actually finished the first draft of a few nights ago)!

But aside from an acoustic show I streamed online from my living room in the summer of 2020 and some goofy songs I've written for friends and family on their birthdays with my ukulele, my instruments have basically collected dust in the corner, and I've barely sung since my last official show at Smith's Olde Bar in 2014. There was something painful about it. Every time I picked up the guitar or even sang in the shower, I had the inner critic reminding me that I had failed at music.

One of my favorite places to sing along to my favorite songs used to be in the car when I was driving. It probably didn't help that I sold my car in September 2021 and rarely drove. Over the past few months, though, my boyfriend and I have been sharing a car. We both work from home so we rarely need it, but I do go to church, and I also drive up to see my parents (who live about 20 minutes from me). 

Recently, I was in the car, and I was having such a moment to “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It” by Stars that I realized I was singing along. Did it sound as good as it used to when I sang every single day? No. But I wasn't even thinking about that. I was just singing along for the sheer joy of it. 

Since then, I have found some vocal coaches on YouTube, and I have been doing some vocal exercises with them to try to recondition my voice. Not really because I think I'm going to be singing at open mic nights again or putting acoustic songs on my YouTube channel, but just because I want to bring back singing and creating music for myself. For the joy of music.

So no, I'm not saying I am actively going to start performing as a singer again (although I'm open to it), but singing and making music can hopefully go back on my list of creative activities that bring me joy.