Acoustic video from “Live from The Castle” session coming soon…

As it seems so many people do these days, I struggle with anxiety. It’s a constant part of my life, though I’m definitely luckier than some and for the most part, it’s mild. However, when I’m having a panic attack or an anxiety attack, when I’m feeling particularly overwhelmed, the one thing that will always ground me and allow me to slow my mind is water. Preferably it’s the ocean, but it could be a lake, a babbling creek, even a nice bath – water is my safety.

Breathe mimics the anxious heartbeat – stopping, starting, stuttering around. And then finds release in the choruses as water rushes through the lyrics.

I wrote Breathe while on the road in 2021. It had been a bad day and a half; the weather was awful in Sequoia and I’m not quite sure what triggered it, but I was having a full-blown anxiety attack in the middle of the woods, in the middle of a blizzard. Totally out of character for type-a me, I dropped all plans and drove 5 hrs to the coast of California. The second I saw the ocean I could breathe a little deeper. The moment my feet touched the sand and I could smell the salt, I was okay again. I ended up totally changing my plans for the next week just so I could drive along the coast and stay by the water. And that’s how Breathe was written ☺

Heart racing, pounding, finding it hard to hold on
Mind spinning, falling, working me up till I’m gone
Spiraling till there is no one to bring me back down
Dancing with danger as life all around me turns brown

Then I put one foot in front of the other
And the water races around

And I can breathe again
And I can see all of the little mistakes that I blew out of place
I can breathe again
When my toes hit the sand and the ocean is calling
The wind in my hair, the salt water rushing towards me
I can breathe

It’s grounding, calming, everything silence is not
When wishing, wondering, tangles me up in my thoughts
quickly it’s pulling me under and pulling me down
Smooth on my skin as anxieties all start to drown

And I can breathe again
And I can see all of the little mistakes that I blew out of place
I can breathe again
When my toes hit the sand and the ocean is calling
The wind in my hair, the salt water rushing towards me
I can breathe

Purple, green, blue,
Every hue of the ocean brings peace
Slowing my brain till my body and soul
Finally meet

Then I step one foot into the sea
And at last, I feel like me

Cause I can breathe again
And I can see all of the little mistakes that I blew out of place
I can breathe again
When my toes hit the sand and the ocean is calling
The wind in my hair, the salt water rushing towards me
I can breathe