These verses are the intense songs that my awakened heart sang out while fully engaged in living. They are songs asking questions, songs seeking answers, songs expressing pain, songs celebrating love, songs of appreciation and gratitude, and songs on a quest to create harmony and reconciliation. However, while reaching for light, I recognized the importance also of shadow. For without either, the landscape of our lives becomes featureless, lacking texture and depth. So the songs always tell tales of both light and shadow. But I do not only speak through my heart-songs, they also speak through me and to me.