listening for a bell
if u are reading this blog post, hello and welcome! my name is charis and i’m so happy you’re here!
even though it’s only august, i can’t help but already feel sentimental about this past year, and everything i’ve gotten to experience.
i started working on new music in nov 2025, with my new friend and producer alvin. my bff olivia and i showed up to his place, and i showed him a song i had just finished call ‘the door’. it was the first song i had written in a long time, that i felt strongly about. it’s a love song that delves into the feeling of protectiveness and care for someone else. wanting to take away their problems, and wanting the best possible life for them. it’s about accepting that there is hardship you cannot take away, and realizing that walking alongside them is one of the purest forms of love.
recording it went by so fast. we figured out what we wanted for the song almost instantaneously, and it felt like the creative energy and excitement really propelled the music forward. writing and recording can be so unpredictable. seamless one day, then another day comes in the form of what feels like a humiliation ritual. i guess that’s what makes creating a song that much more special. especially when a song like this feels so vulnerable. the safety and comfort i felt was so conducive to the positive experience.
lately, i have been fixated on the line, ‘listening for a bell’, which is a lyric from another song of mine (yet to be released ;)) throughout life, there is a bell that rings in my head, urging me to take a leap, to be uncomfortable, and to see beyond my own insecurities. the bell is that challenge, and if i take the time to listen to it, beautiful things can happen. this mantra has never failed me. even if things don’t go how i imagined, or if i end up a bit disappointed.
sometimes, the sound of the bell is drowned out by all that life throws at us. for me, that can be general exhaustion, work and life stress, navigating relationships, self-doubt, mental health…you name it. there are so many things that distract us from our inner compass. but, sometimes the bell rings so loud. begging to be heard. it reminds me how important it is to stay attuned to that inner voice and sound.
i am listening for that inner voice by believing in myself enough, to do the things that i love, no matter the results. writing and making music shapes who i am, how i think about the world, and has been a part of so many of my close relationships. with music, i have so many hopes and goals. despite the feelings of fear i experience, i refuse to give into limiting beliefs of others, and will always challenge myself to at least try. whether that’s picking up the guitar when i don’t feel like it, playing a show i am nervous about, or putting out new music and not knowing if people will listen. nothing and literally no one can stop me MUAHHAHAH, including ME. scheming always.
as i write this, i am drinking multiple caffeinated beverages, while listening to rain sounds and watching animations from one of my fave movies ponyo. duality?? my way of finding balance?? who knows!
thank u for taking the time to read my inner most thoughts. this is a good example of what my future blogs will look like: music updates with mostly my musings about life, and feelings/all that fun stuff we all love to talk about!!!
question of the day: tell me about a moment you ‘listened for a bell’?
song rec of the day: “if” by bread
love, care
