myjourneysinsight

AS YOU TRAVEL-PART 2

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Judy

When I visited my friend Cathy in Utah, she took pictures of me for my Insight Timer profile picture

In the last five years, my desire to write for my blog has diminished. I do keep “idea folders,” which I hope will motivate me. Those folders are brimming with pictures and inspiration for future stories.

There is great irony with the title of this post, since I don’t consider myself to be much of a traveler. But I re-frame negatives surrounding that – with the knowledge that I my current life is like a perpetual vacation and I love right where I am!

I left my marriage ten years ago and have devoted myself to embracing my creativity. Whether it is art or music, I explore any avenue that inspires me. Although these pursuits are somewhat solitary, I have formed many connections with people through my art and music.

I perform regularly on the app Insight Timer. I have a “tribe” of supportive friends from all over the world who are there to listen and support me. While I am playing, they write to each other. My heart swells to see their loving messages.

There are even friends from my past who tune in to hear me play. I grow teary remembering that some of them knew me when my songs were babies – back when I was a teenager!

I have a pen pal in Greece, whom I’ve written to daily for over six years. I feel confident that one day I will meet her. But I’d like to share about two special women that I actually had the chance to meet after corresponding with them virtually.

My friend Jan experienced tremendous loss in a short time. Her appreciation for my songs, led to my mailing her numerous CD’s. We had many heartfelt conversations over the phone. Jan lived in Chicago and when she relocated to California last year we were both thrilled. I made a trip out to her new home and the excitement of meeting her can best be seen with our pictures.

My sweet friend, Cathy, has attended almost every single one of my lives on Insight Timer. No one could ask for a more devoted friend. Cathy lives in St. George, Utah and generously invited me to stay with her anytime. I took her up on her offer, since that isn’t far from Las Vegas where my son lives.

It was an adventure when I drove out to meet her. What fun we had! We explored a gorgeous state park and took many pictures. Most amazing, was the gift that Cathy surprised me with. She is an avid quilter and put love into every square of the custom quilt she made me. I will treasure her gift forever.

My song “Someone to Love You,” is infused with love for my children. My travels took me to visit my oldest son and daughter (I live with my youngest son.) I missed seeing them due to the pandemic, and it was a big deal for me to make those trips.

My oldest son lives in Las Vegas and is currently a Kindergarten teacher. I am so proud of him! I know he truly makes a difference with the children he works with. Whenever I visit, his big beautiful home is my second home. In January of this year we went to the mountains above Las Vegas. I loved our pictures with the pine trees in the background!

My daughter is getting married in the fall of 2023. I am so happy for her! I share some of her engagement photos below.

This past summer, I traveled to Minnesota to see where she lives. I was excited to experience finding fireflies. We also went bicycle riding, floated on rafts in a lake, and took long walks. There are no words to describe how much I love her!

“As You Travel” is a lyric line from my song “Someone to Love You.”

My song ends with these words:

When you’re older, the child inside you remains

you will discover wherever you roam

love will be in your heart, and carry you home

That is where I am living now. Every day, I nurture and rediscover more of my inner child. And even though I infrequently travel, love guides every interaction.

My heart is my home!

More about: SOMEONE TO LOVE YOU

A recent picture of my birthday celebration with dear tennis friends this past October. Turning 63 was a privilege!

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GUITAR TIDES

Posted on October 6, 2022 by Judy

So excited to share my newest musical creation! Tides are a great metaphor for “going with the flow.”

Judy Unger Music

The 4-chord melody for Guitar Tides was composed last year. I put it aside when I couldn’t seem to expand it beyond those chords. Instead, I found myself energized to work on “Autumn Hope” so I discarded those 4 chords in the key of A.

Once “Autumn Hope” was finished, I wondered whether I had another guitar instrumental in me. I went back to play those 4 chords and felt inspired to add a few more bars. As more and more passages were revealed, the song expanded beautifully. I didn’t have any idea what to name it, so for 6 months, I called it my “new piece in the key of A.”

It took patience for me to decide when my song was truly finished. Eventually, it felt complete and I recorded the main guitar part in August. But it still wasn’t done. I wanted to explore guitar additions. In…

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BESIDE ME ALWAYS – PART 5

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Judy

On October 6th, 2022, it will be 30 years since my 5-year-old son Jason died. For this looming “30 year anniversary of the heart,” I read from my book on Insight Timer’s Live platform. It was very emotional.

Even though it’s been three decades, I kept my promise to Jason. At his funeral I tearfully announced, “I will keep his memory alive!” Jason is very much a part of my music and songs. When I sing, I feel spiritually connected to him.

I have a box in my closet that is filled with memorabilia about Jason. I plan to pull it out again this week. In 2010, I carefully sifted through that box before writing a gut-wrenching story describing how it felt to lose my child. In 2018, I self-published a book with that story and named it “Beside Me Always.” (I am much more attached to the audio version, which I recorded myself several times before hiring a professional reader.)

I believe that writing released so much of my pain. Not long afterwards. I started healing. Then I picked up my guitar, which I hadn’t played for decades, and began to sing again. The first song I played was my song “Beside Me Always.”

Clicking on this image leads to where it can be purchased on Amazon.

A few months ago, I attended a funeral at the cemetery where Jason is buried. I went to visit his grave and was in awe when I thought about how much has happened since he died. But I felt like Jason wasn’t really gone.

For these three decades, he has surrounded me with his love.

Jason’s artwork. He emphasized his heart and looks like an angel.

Posted in Healing and Hope, Insight Timer | Tagged anniversary of the heart, audio book, Beside Me Always, child's death, composing, creativity, death of a child, grief, grief and healing, GRIEF RELATED, guitar, healing, healing music, hope for healing, hope of healing, Insight Timer, inspiration, Jason, Judy Unger, loss, loss of a child, meditation music, Music, music and healing, music recording, optimism, original songs, performing, songwriting | 10 Comments

THE DOOR TO MY HEART

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Judy

When I began this blog in 2010, I hadn’t written much for thirty years. It was such a joy to “open the door to my heart.” Since that time, I have shared intimately about my life. I started out by writing about my past and continued to share personal details and deep emotions about my present life.

Something definitely has shifted in the past few years. Perhaps it began in 2019, when I broke my ankle while hiking. I experienced numbness and withdrawal. Not long after I could walk again (I was in a wheelchair for 4 months) – the pandemic arrived.

Even with the isolation from Covid 19, I have kept myself on a peaceful path. I can admit that I definitely ate too much and it’s been very hard for me to deal with that, especially after my sedentary experience with a broken ankle. But every day I focus upon my amazing recovery. I still play a decent tennis game and enjoy slugging it out with my friends twice a week. Tennis has helped pull me through and continues to be my therapy.

2020 and 2021 gave me the opportunity to create a create a third course for my favorite app, Insight Timer. It is named “Door to My Heart.” Most people would assume a course is academic. For me, I have chosen to share wisdom and insight I’ve discovered through my song lyrics. I already have two other courses on Insight Timer and there was more for me to share with the songs for this third one.

One of my song lessons is named “The Door.” I have come a long way since I went through the door, which is a metaphor for ending my marriage of 31 years. I moved out 10 years ago on my birthday, which is in two weeks. I can’t believe an entire decade has gone by, although it’s hard for me to imagine my former life anymore. It really seems so long ago.

Below is a link to a page about my course, that includes many musical tracks associated with it.

Insight Timer Course – DOOR TO MY HEART

I’ve decided to catch my blog up to speed with my life again. It is fun to “put myself out there!” I have a lot of pictures to share and will let those tell my story. So much more will be posted here soon.

I will start off with my most recent paintings.

I’m hanging out with my BFF, Joni. We were in Malibu Creek State Park that day, where Joni is a docent.

In March, my daughter visited from Minnesota where she now lives. We took a lovely walk around her former area in Altadena.

It was a lovely Mother’s Day this year, when I had all my children together with me!

In June, I visited my former high school choir teacher, Frankie. As a result of visiting her, 3 years ago I become good friends with David (who is on my left.) This was my second time seeing Jim (on my right) after 40 years!