HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
I have never said that with so much assurance before. 2020 has been the best year of my life. The irony of my reality in contrast with most people’s at this time is not lost on me. I have so many feelings on it. I am often heavy with the weight of the world’s struggles of late, but then, I appreciate that I have the bandwidth to feel so. My yoke is as light as it’s ever been, in part because of the many people pulling with and for me. This is a Thanksgiving post.
I am thankful for my husband. We met one year and three weeks ago. Six months ago I asked you to marry me. Three weeks ago, we said “I do.” What we’ve had for the past year is simpler, happier and healthier than anything I’ve ever known. Since then, I’ve been so alive and at peace. I feel so safe with you. For the first time ever, I’m not waiting for the other shoe to fall. I’m just happy. Thank you for choosing me ❤️
I am thankful for my friends and supporters – this includes YOU! As my chosen community, you each bring something invaluable to the table. You ‘re my non-judgmental besties. My brutally honest friends. My life coaches and career mentors. My tireless cheerleaders. My creative inspos. My collaborators. Thank you for choosing me 🧡
I am thankful for my family. We have had our ups and downs, but we have always been there for each other. It’s taken a pandemic to bring us closer together, but we’re there and we’re thriving. I am so proud of us. Thank you for choosing me 💛
It’s seemed, simultaneously, to have been both a long and winding road and a whirlwind that’s brought me here today. Bur for the moment, all the unknowns have subsided, and I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be.
Long may it continue 🥂
Video Blurb:
The video is from a show this past Friday for the Whangarei Folk Club. It’s our first official show together, and our first as husband and wife. I would’ve loved it for that reason alone, but it was a particularly special show in ways I couldn’t have anticipated as well. Being a folk club, the audience was very attentive and there were no parameters on the music we could play except for those self-imposed. I chose to play on a semi-nylon string guitar, lean into the folk edge, and play songs that are too soft and emotionally intense for most crowds. Your every day person at a bar doesn’t want to be assaulted by deep feelings, but this crowd was up for it. I have them everything I’ve got, and they were right with me the whole night. It was the kind of night you live for as a musician. Unforeseeably magical. I played a a game with them called “cover or original,” and because many of the covers I did were obscure and/or sounded nothing like the original, it was anyone’s guess. They were 50/50 on every song, and delighted whatever the answer. Many songs got double applause – applause for the performance, and applause for the answer. We also organically slipped into an additional game called “whisky or tea.” I had two identical mugs on the stool beside me – one holding whisky and one holding tea. Without prompting, the audience began to guess whether the mug I chose to drink out of after each song was tea or whisky, and would simply tag it onto their answer for the primary game – “original; whiskey!”
I wish I had more to remember that night by. But as is the case with living in the moment, you hardly stop to think about reliving it in the future. Thanks to Monica for thinking to capture the last song of the evening and sending it through for me to share with you. My only wish this year is for more magical music moments like these (and perhaps being better at remembering to capture them 😅).
Musically yours,
Maggie
p.s. I have all of the video, pics, and audio from the October shows now!!!! Just have to edit them into something awesome!!!!