Is Writing Songs the Key to Finding Yourself?

Writing songs isn’t just about trying to create the next big hit! For many songwriters, the writing process is deeply personal and meaningful. TakeLessons teacher and songwriter Jena D. shares her reflections on decades of songwriting and traces how she has developed as a person through her songs…

I have been going through a deep dresser drawer filled with scraps of paper, all with bits and bobs of songs on them.  Some of these scraps of paper date back to the early 80s! I feel like I’m going through a time machine when looking at them. Some of the bits of paper are literally scraps. The peach-colored ones came from Alpha Beta Meat Department where I worked as a meat wrapper.  I’d get an idea in my head for a song and would have to grab anything close to write it down.  Those are probably from my all-girl band era.  My “Rock Star” persona in my songs was angry and dark with sarcastic undertones.  All these songs could use a face-lift, but as they are right now I can see how much I’ve matured through all of these bits of songs.

In the early 80s, I was living in Santa Barbara. That was a very creative time and the beginning of my love affair with songwriting.  Everything in me and around me had a creative spirit. This beginning songwriter was on fire. The people, the places and the things all inspired me with great moments and memories. The house, on Foothill Road, had a fireplace, a glorious view of Santa Barbara and a beautiful upright piano.  I loved this piano; it was the kind of piano that you can open up the front and sing into it.  This was a pivotal point in my songwriting. Up to that point, I’d been a lyricist, but now my mission was to learn an instrument. That’s when the fun really started!  I was hooked on songwriting! I still remember the cold winter nights by a warm fire staring into the flames for inspiration and recording in my small studio that fit into my closet.

Digging deeper into my “scraps from the past” drawer, I found some blue letterhead papers that belonged to a friend’s mom.  I remember spending many “all nighters” at Harper’s Family studio located near the Cottage hospital.  The words I’d written down at the time I thought then were so raw and daring. Now they seem adolescent and naive, although there are some bits that have glimpses of insight seeming thoughtful and brilliant.  All in all, songwriting has been, and still is, a tool for my growth.

Songwriting has healing and therapeutic qualities but it also has elements for self-realization.  Writing what you are feeling in a song will educate yourself about yourself.  So, all those scraps of paper when read between the lines are much like a diary.  My life as written on scraps of paper in a drawer full of bits and bobs of songs. Scrap journalism?

Jena D. teaches guitar, piano, and singing lessons in Vista, CA. She is a performer, songwriter and author of her own book about songwriting. Jena joined the TakeLessons team in May 2013. Learn more about Jena or search for a teacher near you!