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Dear friends, I hope you are well ❤︎  I have been thinking a lot about how to navigate transitions gracefully. Perhaps because there are many transitions happening in my life right now. It’s funny how messy they can be—how parts of yourself that lay dormant for years suddenly rear their heads in times of flux. It’s funny how poetic they can be at the same time. How ordinary things begin to shine with meaning. Everything becomes a symbol while wrestling with the writing of a new life script. Last weekend, I packed up my beloved Plateau apartment which I have called home for the last 3 years. The space was sacred to me—a place where I was able to reconnect to my passion for songwriting after I had closed the door on my practice a few years prior, frustrated by the demands of the industry. I now have a whole new body of work to show for it, which is slowly (or quickly, depending on how you look at it) coming together, and which I am excited to share. I am heading to Toronto, which will be my new base for the time being, although I’m sure I will be back in Montreal frequently. Plunging into the unknown again after what felt like the most stable period of my life feels both unsettling and liberating.  The prospect of grace, of refining myself and my work, keeps me going. It is life force. It is a puzzle that I am hungry to solve. I am so grateful for the opportunity to each day do better, dig deeper. Inner change can feel slow—achingly so sometimes. It can feel nearly impossible to break habits. But at the same time, nothing ever seems to slow down. The world is changing before our eyes constantly, and we’re changing and adapting with it. Spinning, spinning, spinning. Sometimes I feel like I can’t keep up! One thing that has remained a pillar for me is the practice of songwriting and the release of records. It is what I know and it is how I grow. From conception to release, it is a long cycle. I can’t churn out a song. They are written from the most guttural part of my being. They are my method of extracting and distilling truth! This cycle perhaps doesn’t line up with industry standards—and I don’t care anymore. These periods of flux can feel gruelling, impossible, awful while you’re living through them—but they are fertile ground for creation, and the occasional epiphany can really tie it all together.  On a more practical note, I’m looking forward to attending the Folk Music Canada conference in Hamilton, ON in a few weeks (October 15-18). I have an acoustic showcase in the Bonjour/Hi room (1017), hosted by ELAN alongside a roster of incredible artists! The photos attached were taken a few weeks ago by my dear friend Taylor Dibblee-Barkman at Park Lafontaine in Montreal, shot on Cinestill 800T film with their Minolta SRT 101 camera (for the nerds). Please stay tuned for news about releases this fall. In the meantime, I am sending you so much love as you navigate the transitions in your life. Xo, Ema Jean Soundtrack to my season of transitions: No Need to Argue by The Cranberries and Moon Pix by Cat Power What is keeping me sane as of late (and always): journalling, my friends and fancy coffee 
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