When a Heart Sings Hope

This Tuesday is a big day. After months of dreaming, working, and a whole lot of learning, my new book and record will officially be released. Actually the book is already live on Amazon if you want to go grab your copy right now. I can wait. Go buy it. Now. Really, you can come back here after you've made your purchase. Please. Go get it. :)

The song which served as the impetus for this record was written in 2020, months before my life would take a pretty drastic turn. And while I had the idea for this project long before that fateful day when stupid cancer showed up, I suddenly found myself with new experiences, new emotions, and new ideas for what to write about. Today, I find myself strangely grateful for what these past 20 months have brought into my life. 

To say I'm excited for this release would be a huge understatement. I'm always excited to release new work, but this time, it feels a little different. I have poured more of myself into this book and record than I ever thought I had in me. Between the writing, the editing, the producing, the creating of the accompanying videos, the figuring out QR codes, the website management, and making the thousand decisions that determine what this whole thing will look like, it's been a lot. And I've loved every second of it. 

Mostly I'm excited because I believe in what I'm doing. When you feel that way about your work, you have a very different perspective on anything that might have the tendency to feel negative. Oh, I know full well there will be critics, negative feedback, and maybe an occasional disappointment. But I can say with complete honestly, I don't give a flying flip about the inevitable crap someone might throw my way regarding the content, quality, or approach to this project. If someone takes that perspective, they've missed the point entirely and I kinda feel sorry for them. Okay, enough said about that.  Here's what I really want you to know about Hope Deserves an Anthem. I like lists - so here you go...

1. 26 chapters, 26 songs - Basically an account of how I have battled through the tough stuff of life armed with a pen and a piano. 

2. There is a QR code in each chapter of the book, linking you to a lyric video of the song for that chapter. So you can read and then immediately listen to the song!  

3. I wrote some of these songs by myself and some with people I dearly love. They are amazing songwriters and even better humans.

4. My friend Dennis Dearing produced all but one of these songs. We've worked together a lot over the years and I'm honored to be the little sister he never wanted. :) He cared for these songs like they were his own and I am grateful. My friend Riley Friesen produced one of the songs. We've also worked together quite a bit over the years and I am blessed to call him my friend and co-writer as well. He's gracious to work with someone who is old enough to be his mother and has never made me feel old. That's a good guy. 

5. I want everyone to buy this book. And I do mean EVERYONE. There are people who need to read these stories and hear these songs. Especially those who have faced cancer head on. And you ALL know someone who has done that. So, please, PLEASE buy this for someone you love or someone you work with or someone you don't even like but think they could benefit from this project. I am not above begging. That's how much I believe in this work. ALSO, for every book purchased, I am donating one to an organization called TOTES OF HOPE. The dear friends working with Totes of Hope reached out to me early in my cancer journey and gave me a tote bag filled with all kinds of things I would need during treatment. So, I am giving them books to put in the tote bags they will give to women starting their journey with breast cancer. I am so grateful for the opportunity to join them in their work. 

6. At this point in my life, I never assume I will ever get the chance to do this again. I sure hope I do, but you just never know. Doing a project like this is costly on many levels. Financially, physically, emotionally. So if I never get the chance to do this again, I'm very thankful this was completed and will see the light of day. 

7. In addition to the book / record release, I am starting a podcast. It's called The Hopeful Creative and it also makes its debut on Tuesday. I'll be interviewing lots of fascinating people doing awesome creative work, and talking about how to face the day-to-day stuff of life as a person who wants to put their creative work out into the world. 

8. There is a song on the record called When a Heart Sings Hope. I believe there is a purpose for every song, whether it gives voice to sadness, anger, or fear. And I want to write about those things. But if that's all I ever write about, I don't think I am fulfilling the higher purpose for my life. When my life is over, I hope someone might look at my catalog of work and see that I've written about HOPE more than just about anything. 

9. Part of the reason I wrote this book was to encourage other creative people to do their thing. I've met so many people who are crippled by fear, doubt, and insecurity when it comes to actually doing the creative thing they feel compelled to do. That makes me sad. So I want to help. If you think you have a book, a song, a record, a business idea, a culinary dream, a dance, a whatever, inside of you and you're at the place where you need a little help to make it happen, please contact me. I would love to walk you through that process, encourage you as you create, and help you unleash that dream you have inside you. You can also find out more about how I can help on my website - ginaboe.com.  Click on The Hopeful Creative for more info. 

​10. I thanked a whole lot of people in my book, but there are a million more thanks to be given, I'm sure. For now, thank you to YOU for following along and for all the support you've shown me in one way or another. While there will never be a way to adequately repay any of you for all you've done, I see this new project as a way for me to pay it forward a little. Bless you all for reading and listening. I am grateful.

With hope, 
Gina
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