January - Same Sun

Hey people, it’s good to get back to writing again! Even though it feels like 2019 was yesterday, we are actually in January of 2024 and I’m beyond excited to start this new year of opportunities!! I have a lot of things planned for this year for me personally and I’m looking forward to seeing how things are going to unfold.

First and foremost however, I’ll be focussing on this blog post, cause we’ve got a beautiful song for ya: “Same Sun” by Ryan Harris. According to his website he makes all of his songs alone in his bedroom and let me tell you – they’re great! I had a listen when I was looking for potential songs for this month’s post and I liked quite a few of them. But “Same Sun” stood out as the song for January with its captivating lyrics and hopeful sound. And while there’s many ways to interpret these lyrics, here’s my take:

Can you feel it
As it's running through your bones?
Can you hear it?
'Cause it's all you've ever known
When you think you forgot where you came from
No matter where you look, it's the same, the same old sun

To me there’s something reassuring and calming in knowing that there are these few consistent factors in life. While the fact, that everything around us changes all the time and technically nothing is forever is beautiful (like we discussed in last month’s song hehe), it has a grounding effect to know that some things are consistent in our lives.

When life is turbulent, your mind is running wild and you feel lost, thinking about the things that stay the same brings a sense of calm, at least to me. Whenever I’m travelling and I look at the moon, it brings me comfort to know that this is the same moon I gaze at through the window from my room at home. These things are so much bigger than I am and in a way that puts my mind at rest. And yes, technically the sun and the moon and such are not forever, someday they’ll be gone too, but luckily that someday is far, far away from my lifetime.

Did it build you up? Did it break you down?
With your dreams in the sky, but your feet on the ground
Now in changing places, different faces, oh
There's nothing to be found
When everywhere you go
The same old sights, the same old sounds

In this verse it almost seems like the ‘same sun’ is a metaphor for something negative, something you can’t escape no matter where you go. It appears to be something that’s troubling you or keeping you from being happy and fulfilled, that you can’t just run away from. There are some things in life you have to face head on to deal with them. If you keep on running, you’ll just prolong your suffering. This is something I’m only just learning myself to be honest, but I believe it is a very valuable life lesson. If you don’t deal with your inner turmoil, you won’t be able to enjoy life to the fullest and you won't find any value in your experiences if your mind is occupied with whatever is worrying you.

I remember being in a really uncomfortable life situation a few months ago, where I was doing something in my day-to-day life, that I was less than happy doing. And when I did get a break, I couldn’t enjoy it because I knew that afterwards I would have to get back to what I hated doing. So, I had to face the fact that I couldn’t continue that way and stop. And stop I did. Though it hasn’t been easy since either, I know it was the right decision, because as soon as it was finalized, I literally felt the weight fall off my shoulders haha.

So, take from this song whatever suits you and your life best at the moment. Whether that be the little nudge towards dealing with your troubles, or the calming reminder that there are constants in our lives. And maybe come back to this song again, to see if you can find even more meaning in its words some other time!

While this post is a little shorter than usual, I think the song speaks for itself more than enough. I know I’ll be listening whenever I need a pick-me-up or that last push towards taking action and hope you will too.

All the best for 2024 and love, Ina