Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.

So, despite the rain right now (I love a good Midwestern thunderstorm -- did you know that for all the rain Seattle gets, they only get thunder or lightning once every year or two?!), the day was full of sunshine and bright happy things. (Even if the US DID lose -- but c'mon they did NOT bring it today, Ghana played a better game.) Today I was a happy flower child playing in the sunshine with a couple of my favorite friends who are out of town most of this summer (quite literally a flower child, I'm an inveterate flower thief and I stick them in my hair. If you come across me by accident and I've been outside, I generally have flowers in my hair -- especially if I'm lucky enough to have found sweet-smelling roses.)

That said, I'm going to pick another chill song. It came on in the car this morning and I've kept repeating it. It soothes and suits something inside of me. It's not really pertinent at all to the day other than the fact I played it so many times. It may not be the theme song for my day, but it was the song I couldn't stop playing and it resonates with some of the things in my head.

So the song I've chosen for today is Sonya Kitchell's Running. (I had a hard time finding a copy of this song online for free listen -- the closest on youtube was a low quality live version. If you follow the rhapsody link, you can click on the audio for the track (it's the last one) and listen to it. You only get 25 songs per month without being a member.)

I first heard Sonya Kitchell when I was invited to her Live from Studio M performance. Prior to that, I had never come across her -- but I figured, "Free music, free beer, free pizza -- is no really even an option here?!" I was completely blown away by her at that performance.

She's originally from Massachusetts and daughter to a painter. Most of her songs have a low-key bluesy or jazzy feel to them. She's a real chill and laid-back person -- incredibly down to earth. She's also an artist in words who writes songs that are incredibly visually evocative without sacrificing the caliber of the writing.

My favorite thing about listening to her is her voice -- there's something warm and comforting about it. After I first saw her and bought her albums, I felt like I had uncovered a treasure trove of Joni Mitchell songs I never knew. She has a very soothing alto whose strength and power feels like the aural equivalent of being wrapped up in a big soft blanket while you watch the snow fall outside the window. (I know it's summer time so snow falling is the last thing people want to think about, but it's part of the feeling I get from her music.

Her personal blog is really awesome and well worth following. Right now, she's posting daily (or almost daily) pictures that are snapshots of her life and the things of beauty she finds which inspire her. There are also free song downloads and snippets of songs, just the words which read like poems, as she writes them. This is probably one of my favorite images, but there are many she has shared which I love.

She is a soul worth knowing and a musician worth listening to.

"I'm not ready to paint my face
And cover all that lies beneath.
If that disappoints you I'm sorry to say,
I won't be no accomplice to a thief.

Just like this river that flows in between,
All the wrecks and the brambles in the waves,
You can build a dam, you can force it upstream --
But the water, always gets away.

I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun.
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.

My mama told me, "Child," she said
"You're beautiful you're beautiful to me."
I said, "Mama, wish I was in your head
Cuz despite your words I really do not see."

I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun,
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.

I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become
And I don't wanna be under the gun
Please give me the strength to find I'm not the only one
Please give me the strength to fine I don't have to run."