Josie walks tentatively into the music studio. This is our first session together. “Hi, Josie! I’m Maryliz. Come on over to the piano and sit with me, okay?” Without a word, this slender nine-year-old girl walks over and slowly slides herself onto the bench…

We haven’t seen one another for a few years. The two of us are sitting at my kitchen table, catching up on the significant moments we are eager to share. I glance down to collect my thoughts…

Tip of the paddle slipping into the water. Pulling back against the ocean current. Kayak moving forward. Paddle out, up, around, in. Pulling back, out, up, around, in. The motion is hypnotic…

I composed this song as a musical manifestation of Kelly herself. The idea of composing songs for friends and colleagues was seeded in me by Eduard Elgar’s Enigma Variations…

“What’s going on?” I ask her, with concern in my voice. “I’m going down again,” she says, looking at me with tired eyes. “Where is ‘down’?” I inquire…

I gasped when he slipped on that patch of ice on the hiking trail. His body flipped in the air like a gymnast achieving an impossible feat…

This is dedicated to all of us who make difficult choices in our lives—the choices we don’t want to make but know must be made…

He was a prominent citizen. He had influenced hundreds if not thousands of people. He was like a divining rod, one of the exceptional ones who can find water with a two-pronged stick…

Our quarterly ELIA Dojo is under way. I am sitting on a comfy couch surrounded by colleagues—some new to the Studio, others well versed…

I close my eyes. Yes, I hear it. The steady rhythm of the ocean waves just beyond the beach house. I pause. I slow down my breathing. I notice my quickening heartbeat. I am stepping into vulnerable territory…

I am at a military ceremony, awkwardly but willingly. I respond to the crescendo from the loudspeaker in the stadium by standing, clapping, and shouting along with the crowd, listening to the rousing patriotic, symphonic march…

Sometimes our life force intensifies close to an important threshold. Staying steady while using this surge of energy is crucial. I recall such a moment in my life that changed everything…

I have a photograph on my desk that I contemplate daily. A doe is peering through a winter forest of bare trees, gazing at me. I imagine myself in a meadow returning her innocent and watchful stare…

It was with our touch that we respectfully entered into unknown, uncharted territory together…

“The Beautiful One” is inspired by Rumi's poem called “Open the Window of Your Heart” in company with the profundity of “being held” by a horse during an equine leadership program on a ranch in West Marin, California…

“I Vow” is a musical statement from when I closed one chapter of my life, opening myself to many other chapters…

Over the years, I have seen many people find a voice for their soul through song. In my volunteer and nonprofit work, I have had the privilege of guiding many who are healing with cancer, or facing death and loss, through a cathartic process of song-making…