Hive Open Mic ( #openmic ) is a global community celebrating live music on Hive. Each week is a new event, encouraging musicians to share songs with an international audience.

Long time no see, sorry! I can barely believe I missed so many weeks of this special community of ours. Feels like returning home from a long strange journey. Did you miss me? I'm remembering so many souls now that I'm here. I almost want to call you out by name right now, so you feel me thinking of you. I hope you feel me.

I think we all have our love stories - that's what we're here on earth to do, right? Write! Well I don't know if anyone's love story is simple, but mine is complicated. For example, I just watched saw my kids' mom marry her new man, God bless them! I'm thankful I got to be a guest at that wedding. I also dove into a rite of passage recently, to prepare my heart to love again. Then I jumped in and out of a mystical relationship, like a magic spell. Poof! Gone.

I get the impression a lot of us are experiencing trying times right now. I might include myself in that collective experience, in fact. Feels like the Mother Earth is spinning extra fast, shaking itself clean, dispersing the clutter and residue, or something. Personally, I feel it most in my work life. I work fast, when I have work, but right now my work is slow, so I have to work faster in order to find more work. Doesn't make sense. Is everything accelerating?

In my life, I've attempted to stay optimistic, but lately I'm seeing that my smile feels forced. I think we learn to "say cheese" as infants, and we glorify those smiles as signs of our happiness. These days, deep down, I do feel joy, but I don't often smile unless I'm greeting someone. A friend called me out on that the other day. She told me that my smile was not only forced, but it might even offend someone who was suffering. She said, "You might know how to flow, but other people don't."

Maybe it's because she knew my pain. Maybe the reason she knew is because we all feel the pain. Does that mean the attitude of gratitude is no longer relevant? I don't know. These are the thoughts that created this song. I wrote it just a few days ago and I'm just learning to play it. It's not my typical flowy song. This one hits hard. Different kind of medicine, I suppose.

Maybe There's A Reason

Maybe there’s a reason for my rage
Maybe it’s because of this day and age
People want to make this hell on earth
Not if I can have my heaven first

Maybe there’s a reason a rose has thorns
Maybe it’s because it doesn’t want to be torn
Maybe there’s a reason a rosebud blooms
Maybe it’s because its death is looming

Maybe there’s a reason I’m tripping out
Maybe it's because of this fear and doubt
People don’t know how to tend their fires
They light ’em up and leave like dynamite