Long Hollow

     I’ve decided Natasha Bedingfield’s, "Unwritten," (by Natasha, Danielle Brisebois, and Wayne Rodrigues) is my theme song.

     I was lukewarm about the song until I listened to the lyrics and thought to myself, "How did she know?" – they so accurately reflect how I feel in these days sliding down to my empty nest and fiftieth birthday.

     Of course, I think the lyrics can speak to anyone, male or female, of any age – it’s about experiencing life, following dreams, not being afraid to make some mistakes along the way. It’s about being in charge of your own life, discovering who you are every day, taking chances. It doesn’t necessarily mean running away from the life you already have – just learning to look at it with fresh eyes each morning, to recognize opportunities or blessings that appear in your path, to think about the choices you can make to keep growing.

     The analogy of life as a blank page, waiting to be written, was the clincher for me…

I am unwritten

Can’t read my mind

I’m undefined

I’m just beginning

The pen’s in my hand

Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words

That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition

Sometimes my tries

Are outside the lines

We’ve been conditioned

To not make mistakes

But I can’t live that way, no