Chasing Storms

I'd like to introduce you to Jill and Kate. These gals met in college, started writing songs and singing together as a duo. They also landed the job of being Kelly Clarkson's backup singers on her tours for several years. Recently, they put that to rest to focus on their own music. Over the past few years they've released four records, toured, spent time on mission trips. They write 100% of their own material. In sum, they are awesome.

In addition to being super talented song writers and singers, they have now jumped into the jewelry business. They hand make bracelets and necklaces with lyrics or song titles. Every few weeks they update their Etsy store page with new items. They sell out fast, so fans have to be quick to grab what they want.

I browsed through their items last time they had a sale and chose the bracelet that reads "chasing storms". It is in reference to this song:

Here's the lyrics for those of you that like to read along:

You’re chasing storms
You cannot fight
Following the trail of lights
Starting fires
You touch the flames
You’re burning up
You don’t notice a thing

Cause you’re tired from chasing the wind
And your feet can’t feel where they’ve already been
Are you right back where you started again

It was all at your fingertips but you can’t feel it anymore
You’re running past what you waited for
And it’s knocking down your front door
But you can’t hear it and you can’t feel it anymore

When everything is not enough
You find your losses and count ‘em up
You wanna get but you’ll never give
So afraid to fight for it

But you’re out there running around
And your eyes can’t see what they’ve already found
Are you right back digging up that same old ground

It was all at your fingertips but you can’t feel it anymore
You’re running past what you waited for
And it’s knocking down your front door but you can’t hear it and you can’t feel it anymore

You may have just read those lyrics and thought "wow...that's sad". And well yeah...it is. Jill and Kate have said that the song was written for a friend who was going through a hard time, and the girls felt frustrated because they couldn't do anything about it.

Perhaps what Jill and Kate didn't know, when writing this song, was how much it would touch the hearts of their fans. Myself included.  When I first heard this song I was overwhelmed with emotion. Jill and Kate did something beautiful, and brave, here. What they did was wrap up every feeling of sadness and anxiety and put it in a song. That's a hard thing to do. The lyrics touch on the fact that sometimes we KNOW the answer, but we can't accept that, and are too scared to try, so we settle and keep ourselves in the endless circle of anxiety.

Confession: That used to be me. In fact, this WAS me, when this song was released in 2010. So you can imagine how I felt when I first heard this song on their Songs on the 17th album. Goosebumps. Up until about three years ago, I would fall into these terrifyingly dark holes in life. I became almost zombie like. The real danger was that I didn't really care about myself enough to pull myself out of it or to accept the help that was being offered to me. I was, as the song title suggests, chasing storms.

So why would I get a bracelet that has the words chasing storms engraved on it? Not to remind me of the bad times, not to proudly display hey, look at me! I have issues! But rather, I wear it to remind myself where I came from. That I am SO FAR from being that person. That those times made me stronger. That I have moved past the storms, and that I am worthy of love and of loving myself enough to pull through those hard times.

I have learned that the hard times don't really stop. Things happen in life that bring you down. You can't sit there and say that life is happy, 100% of the time. That'd be a lie. But how you deal with it, how you react, makes all the difference. Always have hope, and know that no matter what life is throwing at you, you can, and will, survive. Muster up every ounce of strength you have and take a step forward, leave the mess behind.

 So thank you, Jill and Kate, for writing that beautiful song. A song that means something, a song that defines and explains something so difficult for many of us. And thank you for making that bracelet. It tells my story. 

To learn more about Jill and Kate, visit their website here: http://jillandkate.com/
Look for new jewelry at their Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JillandKate