Joy Zimmerman Music

"This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can...reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by 'Hallelujah.' "   ~Leonard Cohen 

Hallelujah (n.) – an…

When Linda cooked up the idea of recording a live CD, my insides clenched. I proceeded to be nervous for the next four months. 

You see, I’m a card-carrying perfectionist. I love performing and sharing music live, but “what happens…

Five-year-old me is rocking back and forth on her heels. All dressed up, I am waiting to meet Santa Claus for the first time. The line for the elevator at this department store in downtown St. Louis is long. My…

My dream was crystal clear. A woman was falling from a tall skyscraper in slow motion right in front of me. I watched helplessly from across the street. Unable to I avert my eyes, I was horrified and also confused—why…

Consider the bear... 

* Bears hibernate up to 7½ months without eating, drinking, urinating or defecating. They have an amazing self-contained system that enables them to recycle their own water and retain bone strength and muscle mass. 
* During hibernation…

My word of intention for this new year is “gutsy.” I originally toyed with “fearless” but decided that a certain amount of fear will be my companion if I’m living right.  Choosing gutsiness, I’m declaring “Hats Off to 2020!” 

“Do…

“The music is not in the notes, but the silence in between.” ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

I distinctly remember the moment the Kindermusik teacher told us moms and little ones that the rests are just as important as the notes…

We are creatures of habit, aren’t we? 

Most of us drive to work the same way, hang out with the same people, and follow familiar routines. We seek patterns and predictability to help us make sense of the world. 

But…

I’m currently writing a song called “Not Enough Time in a Lifetime”, but I haven’t had enough time to finish it. Seriously. 

• When your head hits the pillow, do you usually feel your day was well spent? 
• Do you…

When we begin a new job, marriage or friendship or join a band or a book club or move to a new city, we usually don’t spend much time imagining how it might end. Thankfully we jump in, head and…

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”  ~Toni Morrison 

Life is rich and raw, isn’t it? As brilliant, beloved author Toni Morrison showed us time and time…

How do you envision the road map of your life? 
Have you followed a straight line or taken many twists and turns? Enjoyed some rest areas? 

En route home from Oregon (a.k.a. the land of milk and honey), I couldn’t…