• When you leave family far behind, you begin to understand the word distance. You stop taking things for granted and learn to walk with open eyes accompanied by many memories. Thank You becomes a daily practice.

    The path can be very lonely and very enriching. Yes, it is both.
    When I moved to Europe from America, it was in 1985, I landed in West-Berlin. At that time the city was still locked in by the "iron curtain," the famous Berlin-Wall. There was no internet and no Skype calls. My family knew when we said good-bye that it could be years until we saw each other again. The ocean was that big and as an artist, I was that broke.

  • It is an amazing gift
    To reach across miles and know that you are there
    An amazing gift
    To call you early up and know that you care
    As if no time has gone by
    Since we last spoke
    As if all the years and months have dissolved
    Into this sweet moment

  • It was early morning, and my heart was heavier than normal. The dark winter days were tinged yellow with the smell of coal fires in the old Berlin homes. I was in a turmoil. I needed atonement, yet there were no tones that wanted music.There was just a heart that wanted a pair of listening ears. I reached over to the telephone. It had been over a year since we had last spoken. He lived 10 time zones away. I hesitated. Could I share? And if I did, how would he respond. He picked up the phone. It was ...

  • As if no time has gone by
    Since we last spoke
    As if all the years and months have dissolved
    Into this sweet moment

  • I started to pour. I swallowed my tears. I unburdened. Shared my struggle and he listened. He never judged. Never tried to fix it. He absorbed it and gave me space to unravel the ribbons wrapped around my soul. One moment in time, and I was washed clean.

  • I felt whole, bliss, full of love.
    10 minutes before I had felt heavy and constricted and full of doubts whether I had made a wrong choice and suddenly as I poured like a river, my pores were filled with so much love and gratitude that I could no longer contain it. After saying good-bye, my voice trembled with joy and music started arriving in downpour from the heavens.

  • Thank you for being the friend that you are
    It is your trust that has brought us this far
    Your unconditional love
    So pure that I tremble

  • I walked over to Mr. Steinway as quickly as I could and grabbed a felt pen and lined paper and scribble out

  • It is an amazing gift
    To talk out the pains doubts and fears
    And an amazing gift
    To have it fall upon listening ears
    Through cherishing my truth
    You've help me see things through
    And here we are
    In this sweet moment in time

  • Later when I went into studio, one of the producer's and the sound engineer stopped me cold when I sang the words "unconditional love." That part is too complicated. Strike it. So I sang a couple of versions with substitutes like 'your sweet love so pure,' or 'your all embracing love so pure...' but after listening to it I stopped and said one big 'NO.' My emotion conveyed in art knew no judgement and had brought on bliss. It was the purity of non-judgment. It was unconditional love. Basta.

  • They said, "this kind of love doesn't exist." And I said, "you are wrong, because I just experienced it, and it is my deepest truth."
    With experiences like this I grew. I too learned to try to simply hold space and listen. Some days it works better than on others. 
    Yet, I know what a gift it was that I received on that winter morning. I know it is a gift I wish to understand and share.

  • Let me tell you
    Thank you for being the friend that you are
    It is your trust that has brought us this far
    Your unconditional love
    So pure I cry I laugh
    I am in utter happiness
    Blessed to have you in my life

  • "The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love." Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare

    What if we simply listened without trying to fix? Or judge? Simply absorbed the stories and held the sacred space with caring and kindness. What if we told our friends how deeply they touch us? If we lifted them up? If we honored their scars, their triumphs, as well as their defeats?

  • May you have many times over the experience of friendships that rock your universe. Friendships that run deep like of that the oceans.
    Stay Gold!

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    VOICE VISIONARY,  SINGER-SONGWRITER AND COACH KARA JOHNSTAD IS PASSIONATE ABOUT TRANSFORMING THE WORLD THROUGH THE POWER OF WORDS, MUSIC AND VOICE: She trains her clients to open their voices, write powerful songs and anthems, and create a lifestyle and business that allows them the freedom to create and live as successful, independent artists and entrepreneurs. www.voiceyouressence.com

  • photo credits

    Image: "Valentine Day" by africa / freedigitalphotos.net
    CD cover art: "paths X" by Joerg Grosse-Geldermann
    All other images by Kara Johnstad