A Note about 2022

New Year. New Me. That colloquialism has been repeated over and over again such that its turned into a cliché. And, as songwriters, we know that a cliché can be an extremely powerful device - a universally understood turn of phrase is one of Earth’s many wonders. 

That said, this year is not about reinvention for me. Instead, I’d like to offer a riff on the old adage: New Year. More Of the Me I’ve Been Making. 

I feel established in my many pursuits and I simply want to continue growing in the direction that I’ve been growing. I want to continue hosting retreats with sublime songwriters. Waking up early to exercise and set my body in motion will remain a cornerstone of my daily schedule. I wish to see an increase in outlets for the music industry community I’ve gotten so much joy from building. I will not become a new me but a further crystalized version of the self I’ve bee becoming. 

Indeed, the power of the New Year is that it allows us to establish our intention for the oncoming 365 days. Though I admit that you can shift direction at anytime, the collective imagination set resolutions in the pursuit of new goals  at the beginning of the year making it a particularly potent time for reassessment and redirection. If this is something you need, I hope you’ve taken time to pause, reflect, and write down some goals to guide you in the year 2022.

I know that the last two years have been tough on all of us: an unwavering global pandemic and a staggering amount of loss have made sure of that. Still, I choose optimism this year. That we can overcome it remains a certainty in mind. I am hopeful that communal ties that may have been damaged over the past two years can be repaired and that we, as a community, will get to come together once more. Selfishly, I hope to see you soon.

Judy Stakee