An Interview With Hilary Weeks
  

An Interview With Hilary Weeks

Hilary Weeks' new CD, Say Love, is out!



I received the CD in the mail last week from Shadow Mountain Records, for review, and have been listening to it since! So far, my favourite song on the CD is I Found Me. There's just something about the music that relaxes me, and I love it. I also love Better Promises and Even When (their messages are the kind that I think I will always need to hear).


If you don't already know about Hilary Weeks, she made history two years ago when she became the first LDS artist to break the top 10 on the Current Contemporary Christian Albums Billboard list. She is also an inspirational speaker at Time Out for Women events (I've seen her at a TOFW, and was so sad when our local TOFW had to be cancelled this year- if you have a chance to go, I think you'll love it!), and has started a movement based on positive thinking called BilllionClicks.org.



The first “LDS” CD that I ever bought with my own money, when I took my first trip to Utah and went to my first Deseret Book store, as a teenager, was a Hilary Weeks CD. I have loved her music for a long time! You can imagine how excited I was when I found out I had the opportunity to interview her on my blog!


So, let's get on to the fun part- here are the questions I sent to Hilary, and her answers:

1. Where do you tend to draw your inspiration for new songs? (Is there something you do, or a place you tend to be that brings on the creativity that inspires a new song?)

Many times people are kind enough to share their stories with me - personal, tender stories that really expose their hearts. Years ago a woman in Ohio told me about her nine year old niece, Devan, who was dying of a brain tumor. When Devan died, her aunt sent me an email letting me know. My husband and I didn't know Devan or her family, but we sent flowers because we wanted the family to know that even strangers cared about what they were going through. Devan's family sent us a DVD with pictures and videos from her short life. Inside the cover of the DVD was a poem that ended with the words "just let us cry." I knew instantly those words needed to be transformed into a song - and that is when Just Let Me Cry was born. I hear more comments about that song than possibly any of the other songs. It gives people permission to greave, cry and mourn without sacrificing the hope that life will get better and their hearts will heal.

2. I know that you are a mother of 4 girls. What is your favorite thing about motherhood? ( not counting bedtime & naptime ;)

How do I not count bedtime and naptime?? Now, instead of the children taking naps, it's ME who takes the naps! I love being with my family. It doesn't matter what we are doing, as long as we are doing it together, I am so happy. I cried my eyes out when my oldest daughter went to college last year. It was like a flash flood through my tear ducts - I had no warning - no idea it would hit me that hard. And here's the funny thing...she was only 30 minutes away! I love to talk with my girls, cook together, do back scratches (as long as they give me one too!) and probably our favorite thing to do together is eat a treat! We love shakes and frozen yogurt!

3. My blog is all about sharing fun things that parents can do with and for their kids, and its audience is mainly mothers. We’d love to know how you balance your career and the other areas of your life with being a mother, and perhaps something you’ve learned along the way that has helped you with striving for that balance.

If there is ONE thing I have learned through trying to balance motherhood with a "mini-career" it is...miracles can happen in 15 and 20 minute segments. I used to wish I had a two hour block of time to get things done. That never happened. Trying to find two hours to myself was like trying to find the lid to the toothpaste in the kids bathroom. Not happening. Once I accepted the small batches of time, using them to the fullest, embracing what can happen in short spurts - I realized that the Lord can work miracles in minutes! All 10 of my CDs were creating by writing for 15 or 20 minutes a day.

4. You came up with a creative way for emphasizing the positive in life that I have been intrigued by ever since I heard about it (shortly after you started the billionclicks.org website). What is the most important thing that you’ve learned from your clicking experience?

I get to choose my thoughts. I am in control of what I think about. If I allow myself to think about the negative - I am going to see, find, hear and notice the negative. If I think about the positive, then positivity seems to be all around me. I believe if we think happy we can be happy.

If you're wondering what on earth I was talking about when I asked question #4,
here's a 3 minute video that explains clicking:




5. Is there a specific focus to your new CD?

Sometimes we want music to celebrate with us. Sometimes music is a friend when we feel alone. Often music is a source of peace and reassurance. My hope is there is a song on the Say Love CD that fits anyone's mood on any particular day.

6. What is your favorite song (that you’ve written)?

Oooo...that's hard...like trying to pick only one favorite dessert! How about top five favorites? He Hears Me, If I Only Had Today, Just Let Me Cry, Even When and I Found Me.

7. What is your favorite song (by someone else)?

I think The Song Remembers When performed by Trisha Yearwood is incredible. One of the best songs ever written.

Thanks so much, Hilary, for being "here" on my blog!

You can purchase the CD or listen to parts of the songs on Hilary's new CD on Deseret Book's webpage, here.

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2 comments:

  1. Good questions, Heather! This was so fun to read. I'm on my phone, so I haven't watched the click to happiness (too slow), but I'm intrigued. I was just taking to my sister about having positive thoughts about ourselves.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment- I love reading them! :)
~Heather Lynne

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