CONNECTIONS EP - The Background Behind the Songs
It's been 5 months since the release of my first EP album, CONNECTIONS on March 24. It was a very humble, surreal and proud moment for me. As I recapped in my blog, Connections EP Album Release Recap & Reflection *Have you Gotten your copy yet?*, I have already accomplished my dream. But what I didn't realize was that it left room for me to dream BIGGER, WORK HARDER and CHALLENGE myself to create, write, sing and perform at the next level. I am back in the studio with Dunna at Resonate Studios working on my first full length album and I can already hear the growth. But this blog I would like to take ya'll down memory lane and share the meaning, the story and what each of the songs off my CONNECTIONS EP is about. I tend to write about world issues, and issues that affects the masses. If you haven't already, I encourage and hope that you take the time to listen to these songs - it is still available on iTunes, on Spotify or hit me up for a physical copy of my album!! Which song is your favourite?
#1 Contenders
As ya'll know, I am a FULL TIME PHARMACIST MANAGER and it is proving to be more challenging every day to balance my job, with my music and saving time for friends and family and most importantly ME-TIME. An article in The Washington Post states that only 13% of people world wide actually like going to work. Isn't that disturbing?! Then we start asking what are the issues and factors that produces such low work field satisfaction? But even discussing with friends, family and colleagues the statistics unfortunately holds very true. We all go to school for years to study hard, get the credentials needed to land our dream job. Little did we know we would be raking in years of student loan debts, and for some professions it may take longer than others to find a job and then you find yourself in a mundane grind. For myself pharmacy was not my first career choice - I'm very sorry to disclose this. I knew I wanted to pursue music professionally and not just as a hobby but being Asian I needed a safe and secure plan A first and I knew at the time that pharmacy was a steady, secure, financially stable job for a woman. This is not so true today sadly as the market has become so saturated. Don't get me wrong, I have a very strong and supportive team behind me and I have developed many relationships with my patients that makes going to work easier at times and less dreadful. But it's the grind, the schedule, the business, the numbers, the politics and the people management all together that is slowly and steadily wearing me out.
1) We work so hard to meet quotas, and it doesn't seem to be enough.
2) The numbers are looking great but we can work harder to make those numbers look grander.
3) When we make suggestions or voice our concerns it's as if we never voiced our opinion or that we're not significant enough to be taken into consideration.
4) We're expected to work off hours unpaid.
These are very common themes that comes up in discussion. CONTENDERS therefore is a song that voices our dissatisfaction in our respective work fields, our issues, our concerns and if nothing is done about them, very soon these corporate companies will see their best employees sing "So Long.."
#2 VICTIMS
Just a few days ago 15 innocent victims lost their lives to heinous acts of terrorists. What are these people trying to prove?! And at the expense of innocent individuals who were in Barcelona on honey moons, family vacations or just going out for a birthday celebration!! "Victims" is a song I wrote last year after the Paris terrorist attack in November 2015 in honour of the victims who lost their lives to radical extremist actions. And still to this very day, this song unfortunately still remains relevant. This song talks about how we need to ask ourselves the important questions of how our world became such a scary place. We need to embrace, not hate our differences, we need to realize that we are all human and if we can't come together in solidarity our world will crumble. We can continue to have hope, we cannot live our lives in fear, we can stand together as one and hope that we will not have to see or hear about more innocent lives lost.
#3 Who Are We?
As I grew older through school I knew that I wanted to help people. In my daily job as a pharmacist, I have been able to achieve this and it definitely brings the warm fuzzy feeling inside my heart. But I also wanted to help others across the world. I am very proud to say that I have a special sponsor child in Africa who I have the honour of knowing for 3 & 1/2 years. I most recently saw a picture of her beautiful soul smiling. My heart melted and tears of happiness ran down my face. My sponsor child like too many children in Africa didn't have the basic necessities to sustain a normal childhood and most of them are young girls. Even in our own city here in #YEG we see disparity. Most of us in North America are very fortunate compared to what my sponsor child has. We live in excess amount of stuff while young children across the world have absolutely nothing. It baffles my mind and "Who Are We?" questions who are we to say that some people can live one way and others can live another? As a result, through my music I want to make a difference in more than just my sponsor child's life, but to reach a lot more youth especially young girls to make sure they can get an education, embrace their inner and outer beauty, be strong, and independent!
#4 My Priority
This is my favourite song off the album! I believe that most of us are working robots - we wake up, get ready for work, go to work, come home, make and eat dinner, clean the dishes, and if you have children you have to help them with their homework, get ready for bed, go to bed and repeat. A lot of people don't find meaning in this daily grind. We live in a "go go go" culture and hardly do we ever get the chance to slow down and appreciate the little things in life. "My Priority" is a song about just that - to slow down, to appreciate the small things in life, to appreciate the people who matter in our lives, to take a vacation, to enjoy the sounds, the smell, the sights, the touch of our surroundings. Because life really is too short - I remember when I was in elementary just how slow I thought time would pass but now the time just can't go any quicker. We need to PLAY the moments, PAUSE the memories, STOP the pain and REPEAT the happiness! This is "My Priority", this is my mantra, and I hope you make it yours too!
