Welcome to Heartstring Sounds

As soon as I could talk I was singing. I wrote my first “conscious folk song” at age thirteen. The opening lyrics are telling. Even then, my focus was on “what’s beneath the surface” that makes us who we are:

“I don’t think I’d like to be an M&M—

the kind that melts in other people’s hands;

People who melt inside the hands of those who handle

them…Well, you never know just where they stand.

And I don’t think I’d like to be a marshmallow—

a dusty flavored, jet -puffed cube of air;

Sad that people who might take the time to sample me

Would bite in just to find that there was almost

nothing there. “

Flash forward fifty years. My favorite question is still “What else can I do to bring my best self forward?”

After raising my son and completing two successful careers, I retired in 2018 with a bucket list of dreams. At the top of that list was recording and sharing my music. My lifelong passion for exploring self-growth through music, spirituality and creativity remains alive and well. I’m loving having the time to focus on things that light up my heart.   

In my forties I took one of those Memoir Writing classes where the first assignment was to compose my epitaph. At the time, I wrote: “Here lies Ann Bugh. She did her best. Forgive the rest.” A lot of forgiveness followed. Several years ago I read Gail Sheehy’s book New Passages. In it, the author referred to the “serene sixties” as part of our “passage to the age of integrity”. Now that I’m through that passage, I’m looking back as well as forward. I’ve “been there, done that” multiple times. This last phase of life is a precious time to reflect on how we’ve lived—or haven’t—what is left to do, and what legacy we leave. Diving into this decade of integration, completion, and new expansions, I’ve given myself permission to play. Thanks for jumping in with me! When the fun’s over, I have my new epitaph ready: “Here lies Ann Bugh. Fully expressed. No regrets.”