Honesty …is SUCH a lonely word

Flipping through social media is a great time waster. 

Don’t get me wrong… it IS great to catch up with friends and family and be reminded of a birthday, or anniversary, graduation or wedding or some other milestone.

Sometimes you click onto those stories or reels, or an ad that pops up in your newsfeed, and slide down a rabbit hole of sorts. This can be disastrous for creatives who are better off with “create first, then consume.” 

And, then--once in a while you feel like your time spent allows you to come across something golden.  

A few days ago while scrolling through those Instagram reels I came across a song that I believe expresses what many of us feel and think on a daily basis. The song is about the Imposter syndrome,(such a thing!) and it’s a lyric that reaches into the darkest recesses of our soul (sorry to be so dramatic) and shines the light on maybe something we weren’t aware of, but when we finally hear it we say “Aha!” Yeah, that’s me.

It’s a song that in its most basic confesses our broken state:

“I tell you that I’m whole but I’m still healing

I tell you that I’m happy but I’m grieving

I am a fighter, but I’m still in the fire

If I’m being honest, I’m not being honest.

I’ll give you my roses just hoping you don’t see the weeds in my garden.

If I’m being honest, I’m at my darkest, sitting here waiting and praying for someone to show me what love is."

C. 2021 Being Honest ~ Kyndal Inskeep 

After all, that’s the mission of art… to express in a new way what we can’t often express on our own.

This song was presented by a new company called Song House in Nashville, which does something really cool… they get a bunch of songwriters together, put them in a room for half hour and have them write a hook.

(Hook is the part of the song that perks the listener’s ear. Sometimes it’s the catchy part that allows someone to repeat the song right away; sometimes it’s the chorus.)

What an interesting idea! What a way to birth a song! 

This song works because although we can all relate to its message,  it's sung and presented by someone who is maybe in her late teens? Early twenties? So that teens can relate as well. 

Because... don't we remember what it was like to be a teen? The emotion, the angst, the confusion, the drama...trying to figure life out, exploring new ideas, new experiences; "in the fire" for sure. A teen is just navigating their life, dealing with emotions they’ve never felt before, and learning.

Sadly many today are dealing with depression, anxiety, and trauma. 

Truth Be Told

There’s another song that I love  which is basically along the same lines is Matthew West’s  “Truth Be Told,” off of his 2020 album Brand New:

There's a sign on the door, says, "Come as you are", but I doubt it

'Cause if we lived like that was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded
But didn't You say the church should look more like a hospital?
A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals
Like me

Well, truth be told
The truth is rarely told
Oh, am I the only one who says

I say, "I'm fine, yeah, I'm fine, oh, I'm fine, hey, I'm fine", but I'm not
I'm broken
And when it's out of control I say, "It's under control", but it's not
And you know it
I don't know why it's so hard to admit it
When being honest is the only way to fix it
There's no failure, no fall
There's no sin You don't already know
So let the truth be told

C. 2020Writer(s): Andrew Pruis, Matthew West

The song becomes more preachy, but through it, Christians accept the fact that we are sinners (in need of a savior, who live in a broken world). (Rom. 3:23; John 3:16)

On the flipside, Kyndal's song works because the singer jumps down into the trenches with the listener, and says, Hey, I'm there too. Bet you didn't know that? Well, now that I've let down my guard, you can tell me you feel the exact same way. We can commiserate together and then we can both go get help together... 

One thing I learned in the years that I listened to Christian radio station –whose tagline was positive, encouraging music is good Christian songs point us to Christ. They reveal our darkest parts and they remind us Jesus is the cure.  No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. (John 14:6)

I'm not sure if this Kyndal is a Christian. But I do know that she was given the gift of a song that speaks to our brokenness and need for a Savior. And --I believe-- by the way the song seems to be resonating with a lot of people, she is shining a light on that God-shaped hole inside each one of us.

Change is the hardest part

Back in my songwriting days, (will they come again? Maybe. ) I wrote a song called Changes about the changes that we hate to face, but have to face, (eventually) if we want to improve our lives…oftentimes facing the truth that we don’t want to hear.

I wrote it to play it a rally for Sexual Assault awareness at a college, on behalf of a local women’s center. (In my former life, I was an activist, songwriter, and crisis counselor for Domestic Violence.) 

I wrote it with a beautiful family member in mind … who was (and still is) suffering from addiction. It's a very real, honest song similar to the two songs discussed above. It's about how we don't like change; change is uncomfortable but necessary; it stinks! It's painful! It takes us out of our comfort zone, but it's all for the better. 

You can listen to my song here.

 

Photo by Alexandru Boicu on Unsplash