This month represents a first for Starry Starry Kite as we highlight a newly released song, Theshold, and introduce it’s creator, Barbara Hughes, singer/songwriter, entreprenuer, and nurturer of the creative spirit.
You never know when you might stumble across your next creative inspiration, right? On a recent trip home from California, Paul and I caught a Lyft to the Orange County airport. Usually, I pop in my ear buds and listen to a podcast; I let the driver drive and the scenery pass. But, on this particular day, polite conversation led to a meeting of kindred spirits. As a child gymnast, college lacrosse player, injured aging athlete, aspiring writer, and all-around creative person, Barbara and I had many overlapping interests. The half-hour car ride passed in an instant and I promised to be in touch about featuring her in an issue of Starry Starry Kite.
Barbara teaches that buried in each of us lives a creative spirit waiting to be seen, heard, known, and freed. It’s a gift to recognize that creative spark in each other.
Enjoy the song and her inspiring story.
~Linda
About Barbara Hughes
Barbara J. Hughes is the founder and CEO of BalyHaNa, an organization designed to create unity through nurturing the creative spirit. Since 1992, she has been a busines consultant, teacher, and music producer focused on leveling the playing field and giving people the tools they need to have fun while learning at work.
In response to the Columbine School shooting, Barbara and her sister began an after-school music program to help young people navigate conflict, manage difficult emotions, and find outlets for their creative spirits in healthy, fun, and collaborative ways. Her belief that each person has a unique and sacred gift to offer has helped her amplify the voices of hundreds of children, teens, and adults in the ensuing years.
Threshold
Barbara’s newest single (released December 2023) from Teen Power of Music MV in Mission Viejo, California.
Lyrics of Threshold
by Teen Power of Music MV (Ailey Katayama, Andrew Nunez, Maayan Skapino) & Barbara Hughes Music Written & Performed: by Barbara Hughes & Jerry Adamowicz Viola & Cello: Andrew Nunez Lead Vocal: Ailey Katayama Vocal: Ramon Nacpil Produced by: Barbara Hughes & Jerry Adamowicz (Adamos Recording, Westminster, CA)
Gandhi’s W.I.P with Power of Music MV © 9-14-23 I wish I could tell her Her worth I wish she could believe me I know it hurts __ Cause getting the attention Of the men Isn’t what makes Her whole The day I end Is the day she sees She’s missing with her soul Threshold CHORUS Into the woods I go Threshold… has a hold Facing the demons I’ve sown Threshold I wanna go to the past Why does the bad Have to last Is this all I’m meant to be It’s not what I dreamt for me I get up at moments looking forward to start my day Then someone brings a challenge flag My way For what I think, feel and say Why do I think they’re right Give my power away Threshold CHORUS Everybody knows A Cinderella story No one wants to play Bad Grandma Was the part That stuck to me that day How do I break me free How can I be the Threshold CHORUS OUTRO Threshold Threshold There’s a new door You haven’t walked through Before Unknown Into the deep woods I go To the threshold Threshold Threshold
Interview with Barbara Hughes
When did you start creating and what inspired you?
As a kid I spent more time on the music and timing of my gymnastics routine than on the gymnastics skills. Music was (and still is) so powerful, but being in the school Band never felt creative. I was bored.
I enjoyed drawing and painting, but part of the process of uncovering creative abilities is learning what they are NOT. That was the visual arts, for me. With an advertising class layout due, my siblings and roommates found me with glue-sticky fingers, smudges on tracing paper, and in a panic about a straight line I could never get right. I got A’s for ideas, but C- for execution.
Years later, when I presented (what I thought was) a fairly conservative campaign to a corporate client for my business, W.I.R.E. Promotions, the client looked at me and asked, “What were you smoking last night?”
Red-faced and defensive, I said, “Nothing. This is me on air.”
This interaction helped me recognize that my “outside-the-box” thinking was actually creativity.
How did you grow into your identity as a creative person?
Pain. I peeped a line or two into a journal after heartbreak and failed business deals. Now, it’s called spiritual awakening, but back then I felt aspects of myself being stripped away. I was constantly striving to be someone until I uncovered how dysfunctional it was to try to be anyone other than myself.
I had always been an athlete, but injury upon injury ended that dream. Without running shoes and a way to get my energy out, I had few coping skills and felt lost. Who was I, really? I read, attended courses, got into therapy, on and on in a continuous search for answers. Music and writing gradually took on a bigger and bigger role in my healing journey.
How has your work changed over the years?
My work changed a great deal when I realized that I don’t have to say EVERYTHING in a single poem, lyric, or song. In the beginning, I rambled as a lifetime of feelings stuffed down with toxic positivity and denial erupted. I began to trust that I might actually live to have another creative thought tomorrow or the next day.
Now, I no longer panic when I get inspired. I try to capture the moment on voice recorder or in a journal. I realize the idea may morph and change exactly as it should. Now I am healthier in my creative “process.”
Who are your favorite creatives? Who inspires you?
I have a long list of favorite creatives: musicians, actors, authors, regular people doing the thing they love and creating from their hearts. They usually have overcome something intense and have the courage to put their work out into the world.
Fleetwood Mac has fascinated me over the years. I can’t imagine singing on stage about the heartache or anger over my band-mate/husband or wife while thousands of people listen to my deepest wound with the source of my heartache standing right beside me. Ouch!
What are you reading / listening to these days?
I have not been reading as much and I miss it. I do love great novels, inspirational, and spiritual books. I do a lot of driving for Lyft and Uber so there is more time for listening and I’ve been using inspirational and education programs on YouTube to keep me in a positive frame of mind.
What inspires you?
Generosity inspires me. Watching someone solve a problem that had them really bogged down. There are SO many amazing people doing simple, great things every day, often with no recognition or “likes.”
What do you do when you are stuck?
When I am stuck, it’s time to slow down and step back. I meditate with a great soundtrack, or go put my feet in the ocean. If I’m lucky, a dolphin or two may come my way. If I’m nowhere near an ocean, I write. I breathe and write some more. Then, I let go and play the piano or guitar with zero agenda. I like to hear the sound in a trance-like way and it calms me. It’s the opposite of what I learned in the business world of productivity - to push even harder. I am not advising you to put your head in the sand (though it’s much quieter there). Now I say, “Slow it down to speed it up.” Allow.
How often do you create? Do you have rituals or routines?
Creating daily is just a natural part of my world now. It’s messy and imperfect, but it’s about expression, not perfection. I am most creative when I am fully present. Journaling and meditation have been my strongest anchors.
What is your process for creating/completing a new work?
When a song or a message wants to come through, I honor the source of the creative spark. If a melody comes into my head (like someone DJ’ing from above), I take notes. I grab the most available instrument as the core of the song and I write the other parts around it. If it’s an idea or theme for a song, I start journaling with lyrics. But in truth, the process is different all the time.
Do you have a funny story or anecdote about being creative?
I’m not sure I thought of it as funny at the time, but my family still tells the story of my 9-year-old self creating a program guide and booking myself for a solo performance of Christmas songs on my trombone for the whole extended family.
I can still feel and smell the velvety trombone case. I was a tiny kid so my choice of trombone was entertaining in itself, but I was focused on my performance. When I stopped the show to ask, “Hey…can you stop laughing please? I am trying to concentrate on my show.” The laughter thundered even more. Afterwards, my cousin told me, “It was a bit like a Foster Brooks drunk comedy routine.”
So my muscial career might have begun and ended at nine, except for Julia Cameron’s creative recovery program, The Artist’s Way, which saved my soul in my twenties. Unblocking the creative heart became my true mission.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about being creative?
Start. Show up to the page (or whatever your creative platform) and start where you are. Just start. It’s not a race.
What advice do you have for aspiring creatives?
Start. (See above). And hit delete on anyone’s comment about, “Foster Brooks’ drunk comedy routine.” Delete other laughing siblings while you are practicing and learning. Find a safe space to create. Read (and work through) Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. There are many guides available.
Be gentle with yourself. Surround yourself with those who are kind. Don’t share early work with unsafe people (who are often blocked creatives themselves). Give yourself credit for doing the work. Remember the creative process is messy. It’s not the picture-perfect way we were taught to hand in school essays or artwork growing up.
Make it fun. I had a piano teacher who made me play the song again the following week if I made even one mistake. Fiddler on the Roof still triggers a trauma response. Piano lessons were not fun, and I quit.
How has being creative influenced the way you see the world?
Giving myself permission to be creative has healed me in ways I never thought possible. I find joy and humor in my writing. I’ve become a big fan of fiction as made-up stories that tell the most essential truths. Most memories are faulty, but I can cast everyone into a role. I love how creative the world is, and that we can always start again and write a new story for ourselves.
Are you a creative person?
Writer, poet, artist, videographer, muscian, photographer, scupltor, painter?
I’d love to feature you in a future issue of Starry Starry Kite?