A while ago I went off the grid completely. I thought I’d only take a year or two off when I got pregnant but something unexpected happened and I was thrown into another role that demanded all of me. My 2 year old son was diagnosed with autism and my world fell into silence. I couldn’t bring myself to sing or write any music, I was completely crushed by the situation. Instead I spent every day worrying about his future and trying to help him. At the time, I had no idea how elastic a young child's brain can be and everything we did to help him eventually worked and instead of descending into my idea of a nightmare, his progress seemed miraculous!

By the time he was in 3rd grade he was no longer autistic. I had spent all my waking hours researching everything I could find about autism and being a part of that world, which honestly, although I understood, I never felt at home in. I was functioning, because I had to, but in a depressed state for years. Suddenly I didn’t have to spend all my hours thinking about autism! I had time to return to my first love, music.

"Helium" was one of the first songs I made. When I sang over some chords I put down, the words and melody instantly poured out. It was like all those emotions that had been bottled up inside me for so long were suddenly rushing out of me like a waterfall. That song became my Helium and literally lifted me out of my dark world. It opened a door and let the light (my music), back into my life.

That’s when my heart began to heal and I began to feel reconnected to what I care so deeply about. I began to feel a glimmering of how I felt before my son was born. Back then, in my mind, I had lived in a place of celebration and freedom. It almost felt like living on another level, in a happy place somewhere above the daily grind. And I felt blessed by luck, the way I feel when songs I write get noticed and loved and become a part of so many lives.