We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy-Lynn Howson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy-Lynn below.
Hi Amy-Lynn, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
In January 2021, after participating in a virtual songwriters’ retreat, I was inspired to start planning a new music project. I could feel that it was time to record something but I wanted it to be meaningful, to come from my heart and not just be a “going through the motions” of trying to put out music to keep up with the mass of music creators online. As I was falling asleep that night, I got a mental image of people walking around wearing t-shirts that said “you are not alone”. It was January 2021, the pandemic was still in full force, I was hearing about rates of loneliness and depression skyrocketing and it hurt my heart. So, I knew it was time to record and release a song I had written several years prior. A song I wrote when 3 different friends of mine were going through things in their lives that I wish I could have fixed or alleviated, but couldn’t. All I could do was let them know they were not alone in what they were going through, so that came out in my song, “You Are Not Alone”. This song I had held in my pocket for a number of years now seemed more relevant than ever. It was the most rewarding song release process, as I dreamed up and created stickers, postcards and t-shirts that said “you are not alone”, and was able to send them all over the world to various friends and contacts who wanted to join in with spreading this simple truth. Everyone has a story, everyone has been through, or is going through, or will go through, something difficult in life when they need to know they are not alone. That has been true for me and I can sing those words and share that message as someone who has “been there”. A song, a text from a friend, a kind word from a stranger…these can make a world of difference. I hope that song and those words might help someone else in that way.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a Canadian singer-songwriter, registered nurse, and founder of One Reaching Hand, though that all feels too presumptuous and hardly sums up the twists and turns of my journey. Well, I have been writing songs and making up melodies since I was a child, but I never set out in life to be an “artist” or perform on stages. I struggled with insecurities and did not think too much of my own voice or songs. Yet, thanks to an organization called The Extreme Tour, over the last 10 years I have been finding my voice and figuring out what I want to say with these songs that keep flowing. Their A&R staff found some of my early acoustic recordings online in 2015 and invited me to showcase in Nashville in May 2016. Never having performed in front of a captive audience before, this was a monumental moment and one that set off a cascade of events including touring with The Extreme Tour, pausing my career as a nurse to attend a small music college in Memphis, TN and completing a Master of Arts in Creative Leadership. In the midst of this, I returned to nursing and traveled internationally for medical missions in Iraq and Tanzania. It was in Iraq in 2017 that I first saw a guitar in a hospital, as an American medical student on the trip had thought the children being cared for might like some calming music while they waited for their heart procedures. Another life-changing “moment” happened on that trip when I realized there was no mistake in the fact that I was a nurse and a musician. Since 2017, I have witnessed over and over again the power of music in connecting people who are going through hard things in life as I have participated in bringing music into care spaces in the USA, Canada and abroad. As a nurse, I see the benefits of music in care settings and as a musician, I have deeply felt the impact of doing something so meaningful with this gift and passion of mine, in a way that can’t be quantified or tracked on algorithms. I had so often struggled with “why” I write songs and what I was meant to do with them, and if they were even “good enough”. Over time, I realized I felt most myself, and most fulfilled, when singing a song for someone going through a hard time, connecting with them and letting them know they were not alone. Some events and conversations with friends in 2019 got me thinking about how to involve other artists and musicians and I couldn’t shake this bigger question, “why is music not involved in caring for people EVERYWHERE?”. In April 2021 when the “3rd wave” of the pandemic was raging in Ontario, Canada, I went to help out in an intensive care unit that was asking for more support. What I saw broke my heart – patients all alone, fighting for their lives, nurses and doctors exhausted and truly giving their all to care for patients – it was heavy. After my first shift, I left work and tried driving home but had to pull over and just cry as I listened to a song called “Better” by Chris Renzema on repeat. I wanted everyone to get better, I wanted this nightmare to end and for people to be home with their loved ones. That night, my mom encouraged me to go back to work and just be myself and do what I could to help. After a series of small but significant “nudges”, I suddenly remembered: music! I could offer music while on shift. After all these experiences in my life with nursing and music woven like threads, I knew music could help in some way. So, I brought my guitar to the hospital (with manager approval), and sang my song “You Are Not Alone”. Little did I know, a coworker would share a video of it on social media, which led to various news interviews and online exposure that blew my mind. I was just responding how my heart responds to those who are hurting: with a song. This was the biggest “moment” of my life, and it opened many doors, including an opportunity to work with my own hospital in developing a volunteer musician program. Because of my own unique experiences as a musician and as a nurse, I got to help bridge the gap between the healthcare organizational needs and the musician perspective. This project spurred on an idea I had been working on for a few years with various colleagues and friends, and it has led to the development of One Reaching Hand, an initiative that hopes to inspire, engage, and empower musicians to use their gifts to help the hurting world around them. Music can meet deep multifaceted needs in our communities while also helping musicians find value and meaning in using their gifts and talents.
Since 2021, I have been humbled to have opportunities to sing, speak, and share my story of being a “singing nurse”. From conferences, to summer camps, school rooms to long-term care homes, and music events to online webinars, I have been able to connect with people around the world and share the message: you are not alone! My hope is that telling my story will encourage others to see that they, too, have something to offer that is valuable and needed. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful, it just has to come from the heart.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like many people, I had to pivot in March 2020. I was living in Memphis, Tennessee while completing a Masters degree and had hoped to move to Nashville and work as a nurse while pursuing music more intentionally. I had written my American nurses exam and thought I was on my way to be a musician who worked in Nashville as a nurse. Then, March 2020 happened and I knew with all the uncertainty in the world, I had to go “home” to Canada and wait things out. It was quite disheartening. I believed God had been leading me on this journey and thought I had been “on track” with my purpose in life. I was confused because it seemed like some things had been lining up for me to live in Nashville and be part of a community of music friends. I returned to Ottawa, Canada and wondered if I was done with all those dreams, if I had “heard God wrong”. Little did I know, returning to nursing during the pandemic would land me right where I was meant to be at that time: singing at patients’ bedsides. Music AND nursing. I showed up and my heart responded to what was in front of me on a nightshift, in scrubs and mask, with a guitar in hand. After years of trying to figure out what to “do” with my music and how to be “an artist”, hitting walls and never quite feeling like I had settled on my “why” of what I was doing, that moment in the ICU clarified so much. It shifted the focus of my life, honestly, and while I am still figuring things out, I’ve learned that left turns and pivots are what we make of them when we are open to work with the situation we are in and use what only we have to give. Funny enough, that pivot ended up feeling like it wasn’t a pivot at all but a divine intervention to set me on course for a greater purpose for my life than I ever imagined.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I have had numerous experiences in life that challenged me to take leaps of faith and when I look back, I am honestly stunned that I have taken such risks and gone places and done things that scared me, because I have struggled with insecurities and low self-confidence most of my life. One such story was when I was with The Extreme Tour in The Dalles, Oregon in 2019. I was struggling to feel like I belonged, like my voice mattered, like I was worthy of even being on tour. It overwhelmed me and I felt like I should just quit and drive home. Yet, I knew deep down I wanted to stay, I wanted to see the tour through, I had enough “evidence” to remind me that I had something to offer. With the compassionate care of the tour staff, I worked through those big emotions and thoughts and decided to stay and push through. It was messy, it was humbling, and I had to come face to face with the reality that I sometimes struggled with lows that tempt me to give up. The next day at the music event, I stood before the microphone, singing into a raging wind (which felt very much like pathetic fallacy in that moment), and sang my song “You Are Not Alone”. I didn’t hit every note perfectly and I was still feeling raw from the night before, but mid-song, one lady sitting on the grass up front called out to me, with tears streaming down her face, and said “I know what you’re singing about, I know what you’re singing about – God is with us”. Stunned and humbled once more, I felt a wave of peace and knew I was exactly where I needed to be and I did not need to be anything other than who I was at that moment to be “enough”. In my experience, resilience doesn’t often happen in isolation or in a “vaccuum”…it is in the context of being vulnerable enough to let someone else know I was struggling and letting them be there for me and challenge me to keep going. I know I would not be who I am today without the people in my life. So, yes, I am resilient, but I am also reliant on God and the people He places in my life, and that has made all the difference.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amylynnhowson.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amylynnhowson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amylynnhowson
- Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/amy-lynn-howson-72733149
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@amy-lynnhowson5905
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/amy-lynnhowson
- Other: https://onereachinghand.org/
https://www.instagram.com/onereachinghand/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/singing-nurse-lets-ottawa-hospital-icu-patients-know-you-are-not-alone/
Image Credits
Michelle Valberg Photography