Artist Spotlight: "Crooked the Road" - Mon Rovia

Released in August of 2024 “Crooked the Road” follows in the footsteps of Mon Rovia’s previous releases, it calms you while making you think. The first few lines of the song speak to the brokenness in all of us.

Crooked the road and the one driving

He speaks to the brokenness of our existence while proclaiming his resolve to stay available to the broken ones in the chorus.

But if you’re leaving

Know I’ll stay beside that telephone line

And tomorrow we might steal the sun from underneath our eyes

This type of fidelity is rare but I believe it is something we all desperately desire. We yearn for unconditional community. To know that even if we walk away from the community that they will always be there for us.

So how do we mentally process this desire for connection and belonging?

Belong to yourself first.

I believe that there is power in connecting with who you truly are. At my core I am an artistically minded person. Accepting, nurturing, and relishing the way I am wired is a lifelong experience that I have to actively choose to pursue. Practically this looks like honing my piano skills, making time to have mini dance parties after my workouts, writing my fantasy novel, singing for myself and others. I choose to enjoy the experience of belonging to me.

Give out what you want from others, expecting nothing in return.

Pull a page from Gandhi's book and “Be the change you want to see in the world.” If you want people to show up for you, listen to you after a long day or give you a hug just because, start showing up in your relationships as that person. However, the key to this step working is the motivation behind your actions. Don’t give out this energy expecting reciprocation everytime. This will allow you to deepen your relationships without adding disappointment and resentment into the mix.

SN for my fellow awkward people: Only engage in this behavior with people you know are safe. Don’t give your boss a “just because” hug, you will get a side eye and possibly a write up. No one wants that energy when we are trying to enhance our relationships. Which flows right into my final note:

Nurture the relationships you already have.

In the western world, particularly the states, I believe that our consumerist mindset goes beyond our spending habits. It bleeds into our relationships, instead of repairing and nurturing the relationships we have we block, unfollow, and avoid people that we could be building a strong community with. We boomerang between long periods of isolation to thousands of surface level relationships on social media. Building a community starts with a strong foundation, sometimes that foundation is your blood family and sometimes it’s the family you chose or created that you have been out of touch with for a while. Reach out. Keep pursuing connection. And before we know it we will be walking this crooked road of life together.

Until next time,

Orianna Joy