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We are now halfway through recording the vocals for my new album.  Endless cups of lemon, ginger and honey, waiting for planes overhead to pass, waiting for cars on the dirt track to disappear…

And actually, surprisingly, considering I am basically recording in a stand-up coffin, I am really enjoying it!  There’s something about the enclosed space, the black sides, the total lack of anything to look at, which is really focusing my mind on the song in my ears.

Christian, who is engineering, has the patience of a saint.  ‘Again’ is the word most used in any of our recording sessions – we are both perfectionists.  And this is the first time I’ve heard the strings we recorded months ago with Sarah King on violin and viola and me on cello.  They sound so lovely.

I am getting very excited about this record!  Can’t wait for you to hear it…

You can see a video of our recording ‘tardis’ in my Facebook Community Group.

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I am back in the habit of writing a poem every morning after my meditation practice.  These poems are basically automatic writing – I don’t know where they come from, they just fall out of my head as I’m drinking a coffee.  This is the one I wrote this morning:

‘Song’

It’s running dry
I need a good rain
To soak the ground
Startle the seeds
Into growing
Growing something big
Something beautiful
That I could write
And you could read
And the words
Would dance
On the page
Like a dervish
On solstice night
And you would be
Lifted up
And out
Leaving the hole
Far behind
Suddenly elevated
In the air
With nothing but
The sun and
A single soft cloud
To come between
And you would
Know everything
You would be
The wisest of us all
You would understand
The colours
Of the rainbow
And why
The wind blows
You would touch
The stars
With your fingertips
Hold the moon
In your arms
Knowing there is
Nothing we need
We don’t already have
In our hearts
In our minds
That life is a song
A song we’ve been
Singing since
Beginningless time.

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Today is World Bipolar Day so I’ve made a short video to mark the occasion, talking a bit about my own experience of living with bipolar disorder and singing a brand new song called ‘Stay’ (lyrics below).  The video is on my YouTube channel – here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46VZes0S6IU&t=2s

If you like it, please share it with your friends.

Here are the lyrics:

stay/elm/jan 2020

Life is never easy
Life is like a game
I was never good at playing
At staying sane

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping you’d stay

Cos I was going nowhere
Faster than a plane
Everybody’s lonely
In the pouring rain

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping you’d stay

Here come the demons
Calling out my name
There’s nothing like the feeling
Of being sane

But I don’t care
I’m not scared anymore
Cos I’ve been there
I’ve been pinned against the wall
So I was hoping, I was hoping
I was hoping you’d stay

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I’ve just started my own community group on Facebook – a place where I can share my songs, videos, poems and blogs.  I am a bit shy on social media generally but I always love hearing from the people on my mailing list who reply to my group emails so hopefully the Facebook group will be another great way of keeping in touch. Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/263924318517149

18 years ago today I sat down in my flat in London to write a letter to an old friend in Australia, Christian Dunham. I hadn’t heard from him for 3 years since he’d moved back there and I had no email or phone number for him, just a PO Box address. So I started the letter saying that this was a long shot as I was sure he would have moved on, and as I was writing my mobile phone started ringing and I answered it and a voice said ‘Hi this is Christian’. And that’s how I ended up here, 18 years later, living in the Australian bush. Fate works in strange ways :).

It is nearly autumn here in Australia. The days are getting cooler and the snakes are wandering around looking for somewhere to hibernate. I am so happy to know that spring is about to blossom in the UK and the restrictions slowly lifted.  Wherever you are, I hope you have been keeping well. If you’re on Facebook it would be lovely to see you in the group.

xx

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You can watch a recent interview with Emily by the US-based mental health charity One Mind who produce a weekly web series called ‘Brain Waves’.  Emily was asked questions about her life in Australia and the inspiration behind her song ‘Start Over Again’ which she performed live on the programme.  Click here to watch again.

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I’ve just released a music video on my YouTube channel for a new song called ‘Long Way From Home’.

I live on the other side of the world from everyone I know and love. I’ve been horrified watching the news about the UK, seeing what people there are going through. I talk to my family and friends nearly every night, and almost every one of them is having a hard time.

I live in the Australian bush – no Covid, no lockdown, no Brexit. I alternate between feeling abject gratitude and abject guilt for being here. I miss my family and friends, more than they know, and feel desperate at times not knowing when I’ll be able to see them again.

The best way for me to express these feelings is to write about them. So ‘Long Way From Home’ is a song from my heart, a song to say I may be far away but I’m still there in spirit.

You can see the lyrics below and download the song for free here.

xx

long way from home/elm/dec 2020

I’m as far away as I can be
I find it is hard to breathe
When everyone I know is drowning deep
And it’s me that’s on the shore

I don’t have a magic brew
There’s nothing I can do but pray

Cos I’m a long way from home
I’m a long way from home
And I’m a long way from home

Everyone I know is feeling bleak
They hide it, they say to me
This crimson tide will turn eventually
They don’t believe a word they say

And I’m wishing I could be
Someone they could lean on

But I’m a long way from home
I’m a long way from home
And I’m a long way, I’m a long way from home

Some of us are broken and bereaved
They’re dying for certainty
Everyone is frightened underneath
And I can’t leave I can’t be there

Cos I’m a long way from home
I’m a long way from home
And I’m a long way, I’m a long way
I’m a long way from home