The Aftermath

(we found this guy with a convertible and proceeded to have a full-on photo shoot with it!)

Week 0-"The Come Down"

Well, I don't know how else to begin except with a "Wow!" What a crazy roller-coaster of a week. The show was so much fun. And a great celebration. I played 11 songs from the project (10 actually because one was from my album Validity) and the crowd loved them. A couple of favorites that stood out were "Castle" (week 51) and "Talking to Myself" (week 9). I have videos of them so I'll be releasing them very shortly.

I went out afterwards and danced my booty off with some of my friends who happen to be some of the coolest most supportive people I've met and I feel so grateful to have them in my life. All night I just kept looking at them and thanking my lucky stars for them. We stayed out til the wee hours of the night and my legs were literally sore the next day from dancing so much.

But then came the next day. The "Oh shit, what now?s " started coming. You see, I guess you might have figured it out by now but I kind of like feeling productive:) So after a year of writing one song a week, I couldn't even give myself one day to relax. Or my mind couldn't.

So you know what I did? I decided I was giving myself a week off. It seemed like a long time. Too long. But I had something planned to do every day and I decided I was going to enjoy every moment and not think about what's next. It requires a bit of patience, a bit of faith, and a bit of surrender. All things I am constantly working on.

So, I had a great time. I went to the beach, I went to a dance party with my brother and sister, I went to dinner, I got drinks, I hung out with the people I love and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I tell you this because I realize how hard it was for me. How there was a part of me that wanted to jump right back into working and worrying and it's the same part that felt bad about relaxing. But I didn't listen to that part. I listened to the part that gave myself a big pat on the back and enjoyed the week of freedom of doing whatever I pleased. and knowing that I earned it.

The lesson I learned from it is that sometimes the thing that's best for us, is the hardest thing to do. It probably would have been easier to worry and not enjoy, because that's what the mind likes to do. But I recognized it, said "sayonara" and did my best to enjoy and celebrate a big accomplishment that I feel proud of.

I'll leave you with a quote that was written on the card that my beautiful friend and roommate Kevin gave me.

"All endings are also beginnings, we just don't know it at the time."-Mitch Albom

I'm so excited to start this new beginning.

All my love,

Dana