“Tapping into clearest light, this is what I’ve sought..”
“Becoming” from “Mining Inner Wisdom”
Tapping Into Clearest Light…
I don’t know about you, but that’s what I’ve sought most of my life—at least since late adolescence. Intellectually, spiritually, emotionally… Clarity. Truth. Purpose.
So when our song was nominated in the Ambient/New Age category for the New Mexico Music Awards, I felt a flicker of ambivalence.
Maybe it was some old wiring from my religious upbringing, where “New Age” was seen as too occult, too “flaky,” or even spiritually dangerous. Though I’ve long let go of that worldview, a trace of that early conditioning still lingered.
But then, at the awards banquet, just before announcing the nominees, the MC said something that shifted everything:
He shared that he hadn’t always understood this genre, but now sees it as the music of awareness.
Yes. That landed. That felt true.
When he called our names for Best Ambient/New Age Production, I was humbled. I rose from my seat, gently navigated the sea of chairs and faces, and walked to the stage with my husband, our song playing overhead.
I thought to myself:
Ambient music IS the music of awareness.
“Becoming” is the closing song on the soundtrack to the Mining Inner Wisdom course I’ve been creating over the last few years—shaped by my 30 years as an art therapist and the incredibly brave, beautiful souls I sit with every day.
Creating the course, the music, and writing these blogs has helped me process and share my hope for humanity during these raw, uncertain times. As my daughter recently said,
“Mom, I think you write your blogs to reflect on your life.”
She’s right. My art, my music, my writing, my offerings—they all help me feel more clear, like I can make sense of and give meaning to this world. And along the way, they’ve become a way to share the wisdom I’ve gathered from walking beside so many courageous souls healing from grief, trauma, and life’s tender upheavals.
It’s my way of offering light where it’s needed most.
When do you find your hope? Your light?
When do you tap into your clearest light?
When have you felt yourself becoming more of who you’re meant to be?
(Please feel free to hit reply and share your responses).
That’s what the song asks.
That’s what healing asks of us.
Every day, I witness people willing to drop in—to feel what they’ve avoided, to meet their pain, to remember who they truly are. It’s sacred work. And these days, it feels like the veil is thinner. The call of the soul is louder.
There’s a profound contrast in the world right now—some moments marked by a disturbing disconnection, domination, and numbing; others by sincere, tender searching for meaning, connection, and truth. It’s as if we’re being invited to choose between different ways of being.
My hope is that “Becoming” offers a kind of initiation—an invitation to integrate all of our gifts as humans, to become more loving, more free. A call to remember your light… the wisdom of your heart… the ground beneath your feet… your creativity, your inner child, your presence.
I was also deeply touched to win Best Album Design/Artwork.
The imagery for the Mining Inner Wisdom course and album came from a spontaneous practice I began over 44 years ago—doodling during a dark time.
What first helped me survive has become a creative ritual that still guides me today.
So I invite you to:
- Pick up a pen, a marker, a pastel
- Let yourself doodle
- Don’t worry about making it pretty
- Just begin
There’s wisdom in what wants to emerge.
And if you’re wondering how to return to clarity when life feels loud, here are five practices I turn to again and again:
- Get still. Even five minutes of silence can shift everything.
- Feel fully. Let emotion move through you.
- Express creatively. Paint, write, sing, dance—give your truth a form.
- Listen within. Ask your inner voice what it needs. Trust what you hear.
- Connect with the light. However you define it—nature, prayer, God, Universe, music, breath—come home to that source.
I’m humbled and grateful. This recognition isn’t about me.
It’s about what becomes possible when we say yes to the journey.
It calls us to do so each day.
A special thanks to those who contributed to “Becoming”:
Chris Ishee – pianist, arranger
Jon Gagan – bass, sound engineering
Lisa Carman – vocal arranging and coaching
Robbie Rothschild – kora, djembe
Char Rothschild – trumpet, Irish flute
Scott Shane – mastering engineer
Recorded at Electric Company Studio, Santa Fe, NM
