"(A Place To) Hide Away," is surprisingly, a song from the Carpenters that I just discovered this year, even though I've been a fan for 21 years now. And it was a song that Richard Carpenter "never forgot." The song was actually written by Randy Sparks in the late 1960's. Around that time, Sparks booked Karen and Richard at his club, Ledbetters, while the duo was part of a group called Spectrum. Sparks opened the evening with the song and Richard had known then that it would be a great fit for him and Karen to perform someday.
Years later, in 1971, the Carpenters included the song on their "Tan" album. In that same year, they also performed the song on Make Your Own Kind of Music, which was a summer TV series. It was this video from the series that I found months ago, and I've been mesmerized with Karen's performance ever since. I always thought that, "Rainy Days and Mondays," expressed the most melancholy, and even though this song also appears on the "Tan" album, Karen somehow takes melancholy to an other-worldly level in "Hide Away."
How have you all been feeling these days? Lately, I've felt this nudge to rest, to retreat from the world a bit, and the "shadows of my mind." There's so much noise all around me, and it's difficult to completely tune it out. When that noise gets amplified, I feel that it easily triggers whatever I am dealing with internally. For example, when I witness any kind of divisiveness online, it makes me feel even more lonely and isolated.
When the song popped back into my mind recently, I knew I had to record it, and also pay tribute in my video to Karen's heartfelt performance. The song has become my outlet to express all of these shadows that I cannot completely shake. Social media has actually felt suffocating to me over the past few months. There's just an overwhelming flood of content coming at me. Even with the infinite feed of inspiring phrases and affirmations, it feels like I'm robotically liking all of these posts, but not really allowing myself to process why it's meaningful to me. It's just like the song's lyrics, "blindly I follow where you lead." Where is my own voice of inspiration, my own way out? The truth is, without realizing it, we are, in a way, told how to feel online, and I think it can often block us from truly dealing with our own feelings outside of the overstimulation of social media.
I am not here to diminish the positive content that is available online because I still believe it serves a valuable purpose, and I love sharing that type of content too. I've just been prompted to dig deeper and think about how I share my own inspiration as well. I typically create and share posts frequently. Now, I want to focus more on sharing content because it's actually meaningful to me at that moment and not because I think I need to constantly post something to keep the momentum going. I want to be more real and authentic without getting lost in the empty algorithms.
This song is also an ode to the moments of disappointment in life. I want to emphasize that I am incredibly grateful for my life and this year has been an amazing journey so far, but sometimes, I have those "what gives" moments. How come this dream hasn't happened yet? How come I'm still single? It's healthy to express those disappointments. We should never be hard on ourselves and think that we are being too negative or ungrateful. How can we truly feel and appreciate the joy if we don’t allow ourselves to experience the sorrow, right?
Once we release those sorrows, then we can get closer to the peace, clarity, and joy that comes from finding our "place to hide away." Maybe for some that means an actual vacation or maybe it's simply choosing to unplug from all devices for the day, or even for a week. My ideal retreat is a combination of singing to express myself and taking walks in nature without pulling out my phone. It's those moments where I feel the most grounded and centered because I'm processing my feelings and emotions. I believe that's why these lyrics in the song resonate with me so much: "but night and the music remind me instead, the world once was mine." Music brings me back to myself, reminding me that it's going to be ok and "I've got this."
The world is still ours for the taking and we are not lost souls. Sometimes we just simply need a break from the world and our constantly spinning minds about where our lives are going and what's next. Maybe it's in those quieter moments that we are preparing for the excitement that's actually coming. No doubt a great reminder to take the time to be present rather than feeling like we have to do so much to prepare for our future lives.
Friends, I hope that you’re finding rest and retreat this month.
Keep shining!
Comments