The term “balance” is a tricky concept. My efforts toward life balance sometimes leave me feeling like I am standing atop a seesaw leaning first to one side, and then to the other to prevent one side from toppling over from too much weight while the other side flies upward from having no weight at all. How can we get anything done when we don’t know where to start, having several projects and tasks that need attention?

When a person does a lot of things well (s)he finds there are many who will bid for his/her time and energy, making boundaries difficult to set. Balance may feel like an elusive ideal that cannot be attained without excluding one important area for a period of time. This truth is crucial to understand. Unless one plans to author sixty books, for example, writing will not be a perpetual priority, but it must be attended to while the book is in progress. It may therefore be given attention at the exclusion of several other things that will regain their previous attention after the manuscript has been turned in. While steady progress toward an enormous goal like finishing a book manuscript is necessary, so it is necessary to prioritize the smaller but no less important tasks that also need doing.

In order to maintain this life adjustment, a writer must persevere as often as possible to make steady progress toward the goal of finishing the monumental project of writing a book. Books often come with deadlines imposed by a publisher, so finding ways to make the daily quota (again, at the exclusion of other activities like laundry, housecleaning, cooking, lawn work, gardening, etc.) can become burdensome when other work is clearly being neglected. Here is where asking for help becomes paramount! Dividing up tasks into achievable daily goals may also permit a few minutes per day to be spent in order to make sure work does not pile up to an insurmountable burden. The more individual projects one takes on, the more difficult this balancing act obviously becomes.

I am currently an author and musician with a separate, full-time day job (Director of Music Ministries at a local church). I just released my first book for a mainstream, international publisher (Peggy Lee: A Century of Song, Rowman & Littlefield) and am in the throes of writing my second which has an impending deadline. I am also a freelance performer, arranger, composer, music journalist, educator, podcaster (“The Singer’s Muse” launched on WGJC radio in November!), and community volunteer. I have learned the importance of setting boundaries to make writing time and music practice time sacred. Always trying to make room for the Spirit to orchestrate my days, though, I notice the occasional, unexpected phone call from someone who needs a lift and I look forward to accepting that as my Spirit work for the day.

I am thankful to be moving forward in a lot of ways, in spite of our current state of the world. I’ve completed one third of my second book; I am slowly writing pieces for five publications that have requested guest articles by the end of the year; I am designing a research presentation for an international jazz conference audience in January; I am practicing, arranging, directing, and producing a newly commissioned concert to be performed and recorded later that month; and am continuing my work as a church musician and director, guiding scores of singers and musicians through this awkward time of pandemic when gathering to play and sing are still not encouraged. Creativity, as always, is key to fulfilling my commitments! Instead of meeting to rehearse my choirs and other ensembles in the traditional sense, we are meeting virtually. Coming up with meaningful activities for our online gatherings continues to present creative challenges.

One thing I have learned not to do is compare myself to anyone else. Comparisons are ALWAYS bad for self-esteem and will wind up causing me to feel somewhat inadequate when I am MORE than adequate for the tasks God has legitimately given me. As I look around it is clear which tasks are from God. God-given tasks have real meaning and value. They involve investment in others’ lives for good. They are ongoing opportunities that keep flowing in because I have done similar things before that have prepared me for the next big opportunity. Hallelujah when clarity arrives to guide me to the right or to the left when faced with an important decision! Where there is joy in my work, there is God.

The full version of this article will be featured as a guest blog post on Lori Ann King’s website…

What inspires singers? Toward whom does a singer glance when searching for musical ideas? Where do singers travel to fill their wells with creativity? When do singers reach for outside inspiration and why do they turn where they turn? I am delighted to investigate some of these direct and rhetorical questions in a new podcast I will host on WGJC radio called “The Singer’s Muse.”

Singers from all genres and styles will be invited to contribute their thoughts as podcast guests. As we share our journeys, stories, and experiences, we will learn from one another and hold each other up at a time when singing in public requires considerable modification or postponement. Whether hailing from the opera house, jazz festival, Broadway stage, church choir, baroque ensemble, or pop music scene, singers from all walks of life and masters of many different styles of music will provide thought-provoking dialogue and encouragement for our fellow musicians yearning to heal the world with their gifts, talents, art, and generosity.

My first episode of this monthly podcast series will air in early November on WGJC internet radio, and will be broadcast several times that month. The inaugural episode will introduce the premise of the podcast, a 110-year-old poem by the same name, and your podcast host.

I sincerely hope that you will join me for an eclectic series of conversations about music, life, art, poetry, creativity, success, failure, beauty, singing, hope, and inspiration. I look forward to sharing this artistic journey with you!

When the pandemic first hit I, like so many others, paused and looked around before determining how to move forward. I saw other artists immediately getting busy on the ground floor with podcasting, home concerts, and the like, but I really didn’t feel like joining in yet. I had a book release forthcoming, and simply adjusting to what was going on took a great deal of energy, not to mention grieving for the life I missed. Gradually I began to notice that I was receiving more and more offers to write, to teach online, to share my book via radio and newspaper interviews, book reviews, and magazines, and to my delight, that trend has continued through and beyond the date of this writing. I have never been busier, in fact, at any other time in my career, and the future is looking bright, thank God.

After these months of rolling with the changes I have learned the importance of limiting my screen time in order to reclaim some time for music-making and writing. Multiple Zoom meetings, virtual conferences, FaceBook Live events, learning new technology, and simply writing at my laptop for hours must be mitigated by an occasional walk outside, a singing practice session, a phone call, or an artistic interlude. Now that so many of our interactions have gone online, my computer time (which I never really enjoyed in the first place) has usurped much of my time to the detriment of more productive artistic activities including practicing the piano and singing, composing my song cycle, writing poetry, and using other means besides the computer to create. Although several formerly out-of-reach opportunities have floated my way over the past six months, I find as I look toward the autumn season an authentic need to unplug again & Every effort to restore my sacred practice time, prayer, and good old-fashioned creativity AWAY from my computer is hereby warmly welcomed and must rise higher on my ladder of daily priorities.

I am grateful for so many things in this season & for living in a relatively quiet neighborhood, for my health and my husband’s, for our new puppy who reminds me to disconnect and just play every so often (and that life must go on during trying times), for my family ties and friendships, and for my volunteer work which involves connecting with people in need and having meaningful conversations. As wonderful as new, exciting opportunities to work online first appear, we are reminded that we must distance ourselves from Cyberland sometimes, to not let it overtake or overwhelm us.

To all my fellow artists, I encourage you to take some time each day to get some fresh air, paint a picture, reach out to help someone, listen to some soothing music, read a worthwhile book, sing a new song & do SOMETHING nurturing for yourself and for someone else every day. As we join our freshly-washed hands (virtually, while observing social distancing) on our onward walk toward the autumn of 2020, we never needed beauty, art, kindness, and a thankful spirit more.

For several years I have been entertaining the idea of authoring a book on a topic I researched extensively when I was a doctoral student at the University of Southern California. The book is finally here! Peggy Lee: A Century of Song, I am pleased to announce, is available for purchase at the website of my publisher Rowman & Littlefield.

This volume celebrates the one hundredth birthday of Peggy Lee, a pillar of twentieth-century American popular music, jazz, and blues. It recounts her expansive work as a film composer, actress, radio host, songwriter of 270 songs, voiceover artist, live performer, and recording artist of 1100 recorded masters. Lee’s contributions to American music run the gamut from a large catalog of recorded music and original songs (many which became hits), exceptional stagecraft and performance practice, exemplary musicianship, nuance, authentic style in a wide palette of genres, music advocacy, and much more. Her pioneering work as a female bandleader/artist/music creator paved the pathway upon which hundreds of her successors have traveled.

The book has earned a starred review from Library Journal and many favorable reviews from several media outlets including Talk Radio Europe, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Universal Music Group, and others. We will be launching a virtual book signing event August 20 on FaceBook Live at my musician/author page (@TishOneyFan) at 1pm EDT to which the public is warmly invited! That event will include personalized book signings from my home music studio, LIVE MUSIC, special guests, prize giveaways, and interactive Q&A. I hope you will join me for this free event. You can purchase your copy of the book in advance if you wish, and come ready to submit your questions! I look forward to seeing you there… Thanks so much, and please keep yourselves and those around you safe…