Weekly Round Up: June Seventh

What has been inspiring me this week? Well, the main thing is making some progress on an upcoming project for borrowed solace that is in the works (it’s a secret for now, but look for an exciting announcement coming your way next week!), but there have been some other tidbits of life that are inspiring me that I actually can talk about, too.

I go through phases where I read a lot, and phases where I don’t. Similarly, I go through phases with watching certain TV shows, and other phases where I haven’t watched anything in weeks. This seems to be how I roll for most things in my life — podcasts, crocheting, barre classes — you name it.

There’s only really one thing that I consistently come back to, and that’s music.

So this week I have some songs that are inspiring me (which probably isn’t surprising given that in my last weekly round up post I focused on music, too) as well as a few random one-offs from the list above.

The first thing that’s been feeding my creativity is a particular song by Ryn Weaver. I loved her first album when it came out, but since The Fool was released, Weaver has been on a bit of a hiatus. This song came out last year but I didn’t discover it until I watched the movie Someone Great on Netflix (which is worth a watch — not my favorite, but had a killer soundtrack and a good message if you can get through the sometimes clunky delivery) and it’s quickly become the newest song I play on repeat.

The song is called “Reasons Not to Die,” and I think the reason I love it so much is because it does something that I think all good art does to some extent — acknowledge that we’re all a little messed up, but that despite that, life is still worth living. It’s a good one — give it a listen and I can virtually promise you won’t be disappointed.

Another song that’s been on repeat for me this week is “scared” by Jeremy Zucker. I was introduced to this song via an Instagram story from one of my cousins and it is a song that hit me right in feels with how much it reinforces an idea that keeps showing up in my life lately (for more on that, you can read this blog post). It has a wonderful message, and also sounds really pretty, so that’s a win-win if you ask me!

Another thing that has inspired me (and shocked me) is something I binge-listened to this past week. I guess you could say that “The Dream” got me squarely back on the podcast train, although who knows if I’ll find another one that will capture my interest in quite the same way (spoiler alert — I did and have been listening to another podcast non stop for the past few days). I don’t want to give too much away, but this podcast is all about multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) and tells a lot of different stories about the people who ‘work’ for them as well as the history of these types of organizations. I found it sparking ideas in me about topics I might want to write about — whether creatively or to purely investigate whatever I find intriguing — and inspiring me with the way it kept everything so human focused and wove emotion and care into sometimes difficult topics and conversations. I think that’s something we all can take inspiration from in both writing and life.

So these are some of the things that have been inspiring me lately. I find that even when I don’t feel like writing or creating, life has a way of leading me towards inspiration that spurs me to do so anyway, and I think that is a beautiful thing — something worth writing about in and of itself!

Weekly Round Up: April Twelfth

This week has been a bit of a strange one here in Colorado.  We had near record breaking high temperatures to start of the week, a blizzard to see us through hump day, and more snow to come for the weekend.  Spring has sprung! Despite all of the chaos mother nature seems to be experiencing in this transitional time, we have been thriving (or trying to, at least).  There are some exciting new ways that borrowed solace will be branching out in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes open for more news from us!  In the meantime, here is what has been inspiring our creativity this week, we hope it might inspire you too!

I am currently getting readying for a writer’s conference, and getting some stories put together for critiques and reviews. One piece in particular, I have been working on since my last year of college two years ago. This piece has sort of haunted me in a way so that I can’t get it quite right; even though I have completed the 100th draft, though I feel a small step towards completion every time a draft is done. Slaying the words, adding new words–revision is definitely the hardest part of writing for me!

Nicole M.

As the daughter of a musician, music has always been a big part of my life.  My parents met because of music, so it’s no wonder I am consistently inspired by new sounds and lyrics.  As a poet (and poetry editor), music is a big part of my writing, too. Songs are poetry to music, after all, and I like to think that a beautifully written song is every bit as dazzling as the perfect marriage of words to the page.

This week, I have discovered a new duo that I have been listening to nonstop, Ward Thomas.  This duo is a sister (twins!) country group from England, and I stumbled on their music a while ago and didn’t listed for whatever reason, then somehow came back to them again this week.  I’ve basically been listening to both their albums (there’s a third that isn’t available to me in the US unfortunately) for the past several days, and while their use of instrumentation and their luscious harmonies are what got me at first, I found myself sitting in my living room listening to their voices as I read along to the lyrics last night and feeling so enraptured by what the songs were saying.

Some of my favorites are “No Filter” which has a fantastic pre-chorus: “I reposition my hands, my hair, my cheek so you might listen to me.  I’ve been conditioned to win a piece of the war you started.” “Little Girl Sorrow” which personifies feelings with the best literary masters, and “This Too Shall Pass” which is so simplistic it makes me want to cry (listen to this one if you are in your twenties and struggling with making sense of your life).

Music always inspires me, and this week it’s been Ward Thomas.  Give them a listen — I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Addey