Whether you hate her, love her, don’t know who she is and/or don’t care, most people are aware of the force of nature that is Miley Cyrus. I never watched Hannah Montana, never really felt any sort of kinship with her (she’s quite a bit younger than me being the most obvious) but I can recall the moment that all changed.

I heard the song The Climb (done in the Hannah Montana era) and it was beautiful sung, but the feelings that voice evoked in my soul were much deeper and full of an unspoken, old pain that added years to the young lady’s voice. It moved me and became another of the songs in my library of musical therapy. It’s an uplifting anthem about life, overcoming obstacles, even if one of more of those obstacles are you. Or at least that’s what I took away from it. It gets me fired up in the best way possible, inspired and fueled by faith, optimism and belief in oneself. 

Fast forward through all the stuff in her life that made what we call news now – I won’t recap because it’s part of the story but it’s not the important stuff. They are just condiments to the meal; love, life, tragedy, mental health, addictions, love again, fame, music, love again, years of being repressed and freedom, love again… we’ve all been there without the news following our every move, but we’ve all got that stamp on our passport of My Life – On Tour.

She’s now a grown woman, sober and (still) making music that is relevant, gorgeous, haunting and that voice is free of the old pain and now filled with the self-love, the unrestrained expression and celebration of Miley This Moment. She’s no longer dragged down by the opinions and criticisms of the Armchair Critics who can’t get their ass off the couch/chair, much less out the front door and their eyes off a screen, but can judge her life choices unchallenged with venomous ignorant (often misspelled) words. Her agenda is to tell her truth, her story and her experience to share it with others so those who have been told they are not right, welcome, included, good enough, this way enough/that way enough or they are too  much – too loud, too opinionated, too creative, too independent, fill in the blank, basically you are not welcome here and you there is something wrong with you. 

Miley helps us realize it’s ok to not be ok all the time but eventually something needs to be done, an action taken, even if to just put her music on and cry it out. She normalizes mental health issues because more of us than not have some experience with it, be it personal, familial or friend. Time to phone a friend, get a lifeline to calmer seas and sunny skies, whatever keeps you from the edge and the abyss. She shows up and does not disappoint. Let it out, let it go. Then dry your eyes and kick open up a fresh can of whoop ass on life’s road blocks. 

Which brings me to this morning; things have been rocky in my world as of late, rife with broken promises from people I thought I knew, ongoing physical issues directly as a result of said people, ongoing mental health struggles and the every day strife of the working poor, the single person, the human. That’s when I heard the “Golden G String” song from Miley’s new album. This was the first time I’d heard this song and I’ll leave the full lyrics at the bottom of this post, in case you’d like to read them for yourself.

Now, I’ve never had my home burn down, but I have been through one divorce that wasn’t a day at Disneyland but it wasn’t made public allowing everyone to be able to weigh in with their opinion on me and how I was responsible, etc. but I have (like all of us) lost someone, something great came to an end, someone was called Home to rest in God’s gentle arms and left a hole the size of their soul in you, we’ve all thought at one time or another that we couldn’t possible bear another minute, another straw on the camel’s back. This soul is the human definition of the phoenix; she burns brightly until she turns to ash, then rises from the ash, reborn. Stronger, smarter, lovely more fiercely and more free this time around. 

I want to be like Miley. Golden G string (or any G string, for that matter) aside.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=golden+g+string+lyrics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+climb+lyrics&client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=APq-WBsSPZaUROX-xAaNTLjYKpt7FK4vrQ%3A1648216017979&ei=0cc9Yt6xO4_E0PEPzte4yAQ&ved=0ahUKEwie3o6Ss-H2AhUPIjQIHc4rDkkQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=the+climb+lyrics&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyCwgAEIAEELEDEIMBMgYIABAHEB4yBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBggAEAcQHjIFCAAQgAQyBggAEAcQHjIFCAAQgAQyBggAEAcQHjoICC4QgAQQ1AJKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFjeBmDrB2gAcAF4AIABvAGIAfwIkgEDMi43mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz