Song Alchemy

Ep 28 - The Moon & Self-Worth + Live Music

• Andrea Belita

Share episode

Send us a text

Have you ever looked at the moon and marveled at how we accept it completely—craters and all—without wishing it were any different? That's the profound realization I had during a solitary hike that transformed my relationship with self-acceptance.

Walking alone through rolling green hills at dusk, I was wrestling with familiar insecurities: the exhausting need to prove myself as a mother, businesswoman, and creator. Would I ever feel like enough? As I reached the hilltop, the moon appeared—subtle yet bright enough to guide my way home without a flashlight. Unlike the blinding sun, her light was gentle, her presence comforting despite (or because of) her imperfections.

This celestial encounter reminded me of a pivotal moment years ago after releasing my first album. I'd been striving desperately to be cooler, edgier, and more marketable—until one day I truly saw myself in the mirror. Not my flaws or inadequacies, but simply me. In that breakthrough, I recognized that like the moon, I am enough exactly as I am. This revelation inspired my song "Gem," which I perform in this episode as a reminder that our authentic selves—the ones we don't have to force or fabricate—are miracles worth celebrating. The places we want to hide, the vulnerabilities we fear showing—they're all part of what makes us human, connected, and real. You already possess everything you need; you're a gem with natural brilliance that doesn't require polishing to perfection.

Ready to embrace your authentic self? Listen now, then share with someone who needs to hear they're already enough. Because sometimes the most powerful alchemy happens when we stop trying to transform who we are and simply recognize the gold already present.

Find my music on every streaming platform.

Social links: https://poplme.co/qJa7A7z3

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY3y73CvNQOHreej414iTNg

Visual Song Journeys: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsmgNOj6AUHFmgliNEAwTSTGPpFRqdUON


Support the show

Speaker 1:

You are listening to Song Alchemy with Andrea Bellita. Alchemy originally referred to an ancient tradition that aimed to transform base metals into gold, discover the elixir of life and achieve spiritual enlightenment. It combined elements of chemistry, philosophy and mysticism. That is what I aim to do here Take the base metals of life, the raw experiences, and turn them into gold, the elixir. The songs that move and that resonate with souls. You're listening to Song Alchemy. You're listening to Song Alchemy.

Speaker 1:

Tonight I went on a hike and on that hike I got to spend just some time alone as I was walking up the beautiful rolling green hills, thinking about the many insecurities I was experiencing just before the hike, knowing that I needed to ground myself in nature, leave my phone behind and feel less like I have to prove myself. I went on this walk and I was thinking about how hard I work sometimes to prove myself, that it isn't enough to just be me. I don't feel like I'm enough to just be me, that I need to be a fantastic mother and I need to be a really good business person and I need to figure out how to increase the quality of life for xyz. And it's this never-ending need and it's exhausting sometimes, I think will this ever be enough? Will where I'm at ever feel like it's enough? Or am I just always looking for the next thing?

Speaker 1:

I would call myself a bit of a serial creative. I love to create, but I don't like to put the hard work in of consistency. When it comes to creating songs and writing songs, that just happens. That's not even something I have to really work hard at. I just enjoy doing it and that's why I built this podcast, because I just want to share my songs and the stories that created the songs, and I feel like I have to try so hard at everything else. I get that life isn't just roses all the time and everything's easy and fun and smooth and straightforward. That isn't life. That's not realistic. That's not realistic. Life's challenges are meant to stretch us. But tonight I was feeling a sense of insecurity, thinking well, will I ever be enough?

Speaker 1:

And it was just before dusk that I started my hike and as I got to the top of the hill I looked over and saw the moon in all of her glory. Subtle, she wasn't super bright, but she was bright, but not like the sun. Her light was a bit more subtle, a bit more manageable. I can look at her and not be blinded. I can be in her presence and never feel like I have to put sunscreen on myself or cover up. I accept her as she is and she accepts me as I am and she gives me light.

Speaker 1:

I didn't have a flashlight, I didn't bring my phone with me on the hike, and so I just walked in her moonlight and I was realizing, as I was looking at her, that she has craters and she has what could be seen as imperfections, but we don't see them as imperfections. We see them as just part of her. And it's this incredible view of just seeing her as she is and and taking her as she is. We don't want to change her, we don't even think about changing her. We just see her and appreciate her. And for those who don't look, who are too busy doing other things, she just shows up every day as herself, her most authentic self, and she reflects that light from the sun. She doesn't even make her own, she reflects, but it's enough. She creates balance for our earth, she creates a grounding for us when we see her, a calming I don't know if you feel that way, but I do when I look at the moon calm, grateful in awe, and she doesn't ask anything of us, she just shows up every day and it reminded me of a time in my life when I was trying really hard. I mean, it actually feels like a lot.

Speaker 1:

My life is often a series of me trying really hard at a lot of things and struggling to just let me be, but there was this time in particular, after I had released my first album and I had been trying really hard at being prettier and being cool and being edgy and all the things that you think you're supposed to be when you're a young artist. At least that's how people used to think, I think. Because of what we saw in the media, we thought we needed to be young and edgy. At least that's what I thought. And I tried really hard to be cooler and to not be so me which was, in my opinion, not cool, just me, fun, interesting, just I did not have what looked like a cool outfit. Most days I just wore what I liked. What looked like a cool outfit? Most days I just wore what I liked.

Speaker 1:

So I was trying to live up to some narrative that I thought I had to be and one day I looked in the mirror after months of trying hard.

Speaker 1:

And I just looked and I saw like I looked into my eyes almost like I hadn't been actually noticing myself before, like I'd been looking in the mirror before, but all I was seeing was my flaws. All I was seeing was, oh, I need more even toned skin and oh, I need an. Oh, my eye, you know, isn't quite tracking or oh this or oh that, or I need to be skinnier, or I need to be more fit, or whatever it was. And this time I just looked up and saw me, and I wasn't criticizing myself or wondering what I needed to change, but I just looked at me and said hi. And it was this profound moment for me where I remembered that I am like the moon, I am enough as I am. I don't need to try so hard. I just need to show up every day and do what I'm good at, do what I like, and that's enough. And the song I wrote was called Gem, so I'm going to play that for you.

Speaker 2:

Today I had a breakthrough. Breakthrough, my soul split open and I saw the truth. I've been hard on me lately, yeah, yeah, not seeing the beauty in me, stuck on the painting and its flaws, ignoring strokes of love and loss. Shallow to forget. I'm a piece of heart from heaven. Yeah, shallow to forget, I'm a piece of heart from heaven. Truth is I'm good, I'm good, a miracle. There I stood looking in the mirror at who I am, saying that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem, saying that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem. Today you had a breakthrough. Breakthrough. You looked at me and you saw the truth. You've been hard on me lately, yeah, yeah, not seeing the beauty in me. Truth is I'm good, I'm good, a miracle. There I stood looking in the mirror at who I am, saying that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem, saying that's right, that's right, that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem.

Speaker 2:

We all fall down, sometimes Throwing rocks and grime To each our jumbled mind. Try to clear your head, step out of the mud and wash off your tread, and then you'll have a breakthrough. A breakthrough Looking at others, you'll see the truth and be easy on each other. Yeah, yeah, not so quick to point a finger. Yeah, yeah, say it with me. Truth is I'm good. I'm good, a miracle. There I stood Looking in the mirror at who I am, saying that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem. Saying that's right, that's right, that's right. You are a gem, a gem.

Speaker 1:

And there you have it a gem. You are a gem, so be easy on yourself. It's okay to challenge yourself. It's okay to believe that you are blooming, that you are not finished, but you are enough. Right now, everything that you are is preparing you for what is next. All you have to do is listen to those little nudges inside, the ones that say, hey, do this, go this direction. Because every single time you say yes to that, it will lead you further along the path that feels most authentic and true to you. And when that is happening, there's not as much worry about whether you're doing something right or wrong. It's more about are you standing in your authentic self? Because everything that you are, the places you want to hide, the places that you wish you weren't seen, the places that you are scared of showing, because it's sometimes terrifying to be vulnerable it's okay. It's okay to feel all of those things. It's okay to be exactly what you are right now.

Speaker 1:

And you know I'm tempted, even in a moment like this, to be like. You know, that song wasn't perfectly sung. I made a couple mistakes, and yet it's okay, because what I want here isn't perfection. What I want here is raw, authentic. We're not digging for gold. We are just seeing the gold. And for me, when I get to see people actually in their element, in their non-perfect element, that practice moment or that moment when they didn't get it quite right, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with it because it reminds me that we're all human. We're just imperfectly perfect as we are.

Speaker 1:

So that's what I want you to remember today. You are a gem. Go out and be your most authentic self. That's the self that you don't have to try so hard. All right, relax, you've got this, you are enough. And if you know anyone who you think will benefit from this message today, please share. Every time you share this podcast and every time you write a review or you make a comment or you send a message, that will help this will help this message go a little bit further, and isn't that what this is about? I think? I think life is about sharing the things that resonate deeply with us, and I hope that you feel seen today. Thank you for tuning in to Song Alchemy. Follow the show so that you get updates about every brand new episode.

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.