I was driving home from the movies with my buddy, David. “Would you like to hear my latest meditation song?” I asked him. He replied that he would and it began quietly playing.

David and I were both in the high school choir decades ago. And similarly, we also lived in the homes where we grew up. We reconnected when a group of other choir members drove out to visit our beloved former teacher. He was truly a remarkable singer and people stopped in their tracks whenever they heard him sing.

“Judy, it reminds me of the Titanic song!” he gleefully announced.

And then he began singing along with my ethereal mediation instrumental. His booming voice echoed through my car. “Near, Far, Whereeeeeee everrrrrr you are. . .my heart will go on and onnnnnnnn!”

For over ten minutes he went on and on, singing that melody along with my track. I was laughing so hard I almost had to stop driving!

I made it through!!

Time seems to be moving at warp speed. Days turn into weeks, and then suddenly it’s another new season. I’m very conscious that this is the “sunset season” of my life. I don’t really want to view an imminent ending, but I have constant awareness that aging is an unrelenting process. And that is very euphemistic when my body doesn’t act the way it used to.

Every day, I am uplifted by my achievement of changing old eating habits. I have lost over 50 pounds in the last year and a half. Since January, I’ve been doing it on my own without any GLP1 medication. What seemed like a roadblock (when my insurance no longer covered it), turned into a blessing. I now know that I am capable of continuing this weight loss journey (as well as maintenance), without relying on it.

Two years ago my knees were hurting so much that I was looking at knee replacement. For months, I needed a cane and even a wheelchair to get through the airport when I traveled.

Losing weight slowly over 18 months made a huge difference. At the one-year mark, I no longer experienced knee pain. However, I was very tired whenever I took a walk and the idea of ever playing tennis again seemed unreachable.

I had lost a lot of muscle mass from sitting most of the time. But what I could do was swim, and I was at the YMCA almost every day doing laps. It was so helpful for my mental well being and I considered it my meditation.

Because my friends took my hand and kept encouraging me, I started playing tennis again. Sometimes, I pinched myself when I was able to run and reach a difficult shot. Every time I played, I felt more confident about my athletic abilities!

On Mother’s Day, I performed my usual weekly live stream. It was such a thrill to see Christopher Plowman was there, and he commented that night. Christopher is the CEO of Insight Timer – so this was a big honor. He even left me a donation!

I actually met Christopher back in 2017 when he was visiting LA.

Working on my music does involve sitting. That’s why I’m glad I have other activities to bring balance to my life.

I’ve wondered what my next focus would be, since I finished recording guitar and vocals for all my songs two months ago.

Well, something appeared to me! I have decided to venture back into creating meditation songs. In the past, my meditation songs were done in a studio with another musician. I made suggestions, but did not actively create the tracks. This time, I am creating meditation songs in a new way.

My current arranger, Devin, is such an accomplished musician. I’ve been working with him for seven years now. It turns out that when I composed my song “Take My Hand,” I already had the idea that it would make a lovely meditation song. So three years ago, I asked Devin to fool around and record a long piano version for me.

I went back to that old recording and spent a week streamlining it. After that, I worked again on it with Devin and instructed him to add some new passages and a few other tracks.

Deciding upon sound choices is so much like transparent watercolor painting. I layer many tracks and sounds to get the results I am looking for. The process is almost spiritual at times.

Take My Hand Meditation Song Audio Excerpt

And just last week, I decided to purchase a new instrument package. This will give me abundant sound choices for my meditation creations!! It was challenging to find a version that could work with my older computer, but I kept at it.

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My friend Leann (and all my friends), know how I love butterflies. I was very touched that she mailed me this sweet card for no reason.

Several years ago, we even went to a live butterfly exhibit together. I met Leann on Facebook and we both enjoy taking nature photos. We’ve done several photo outings and she took wonderful golden hour pictures of me earlier this year.

We made a plan to go up to our local mountains and take pictures.

It would get me outside and moving. But it would also give me an opportunity to photograph images of my hand that I could use as a cover for my newest meditation song.

I had so many memories of younger days hiking in that area. I wasn’t the agile girl I used to be, but I accepted it. The breeze and sunshine warmed my soul and the smell of pine was intoxicating.

And this outing yielded many images of my outstretched hand to choose from.

Leann and I even took photos with our hands clasping. (She’s shy about having her picture taken). Unfortunately, I didn’t find any of the results to be appealing for my song’s cover.

It’s interesting that I don’t associate myself with being an illustrator these days – I am much more focused upon my musical creations. I even declined to do a pet portrait for a dear friend, when I realized my heart wasn’t in that painting space.

AI has certainly influenced almost everyone I know – myself included. I’ve benefited greatly from Chat GPT’s advice and could list dozens of ways it has helped me. I hadn’t used it to create images, though. I was fascinated that anyone could simply “order” an illustration. There was no need for professional illustrators anymore.

At the same time, I’ve felt a backlash toward my photorealistic work. Many people assume that my paintings were done with AI, even though I began illustrating in 1981.

Circling back to the beginning of this post, I have to mention what a difference it has made to have dear friends’ support as I’ve traveled this weight loss journey. I am especially appreciative of my eldest son.

He really inspired me when he completely changed his eating habits. And he did it with the help of Chat GPT.

Every day, we compare notes about our numbers – calories, pounds and eating challenges. Six months ago, he weighed exactly ten pounds more than me. And now he weighs less. His current total weight loss exceeds 70 pounds. We both celebrate seeing our goal in sight with only 15 more pounds to go.

There’s no getting away from AI it seems. I sent him the picture above and he sent me back an image that made me laugh out loud!

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And therefore, I will end this post with the conclusion that I did find a song cover for my new “Take My Hand Meditation Song.”

I uploaded my arm and had AI create a sweeping background that I’m happy with. And it does have a real element with the photo of my actually arm. (Thankfully, without age spots or flab). Even the lighting works!

Recordings, performances, lyrics and story links: TAKE MY HAND