'Alakowe' by Ollá

In this episode of The Sound of Healing, I sit down with Lagos-born singer-songwriter Ollá to explore the heart behind her powerful song, Alakowe.

From the very first listen, I knew this song carried something deeper - a message of grace, self-compassion, and the reminder to keep going, even when life doesn’t look the way we thought it would.

Ollá shares the story of writing Alakowe during a moment of self-doubt while traveling between countries… hearing her mother’s voice in her head… and being reminded to slow down, breathe, and take life one step at a time.

We talk about pressure, purpose, reinvention, and what it really means to go easy on yourself.

If you’ve ever felt behind, not enough, or unsure of your path… this one will meet you right where you are.

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 Listening to “Alakowe”
5:10 Òllá’s reaction to hearing the song again
6:40 Why “Alakowe” resonates so deeply
8:35 The origin story + meaning of “Alakowe”
13:26 The story of Òllá’s mother and her influence
24:10 Lyrics deep dive: “Little girl, small town”
27:50 What would young Òllá think today?
31:35 Lyrics deep dive: “25… 35… life has just begun”
36:30 “Even when life gets hard, go easy on yourself”
40:52 Fan responses + the making of the video
44:20 Where to find Òllá + what’s next

📲 Follow Òllá:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonlyolla

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Transcript

elcome And Why This Song Matters

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Well, Ola, it is really a joy and I feel so lucky and honored to have you on the Sound of Healing show to talk about your incredible song, Ala Koe. Thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Thank you so much, Jason, for having me. Um really so honored to talk about the song actually.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

A really special song for me.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

So we feature songs in the Sound of Healing that we breathe to in our live online, sometimes in person, Revelation Breath Work classes that are really impactful, healing, touch people's hearts, and this song absolutely has that energy. And when I heard it, I immediately knew I needed to reach out to you and see if you were willing to share more about the song and so we can share it with more people. So before we get started and get into it, what I love to do is to listen to the song with you, and then uh just to kind of set the vibe, and then we'll talk about it. How's that sound?

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Little girl, small town, but you dream in the light. Twenty-five in your castle, and I love the call.

he Video Story And Its Pull

SPEAKER_03 4:39

Let's go, Ola. Yes. Ah, such a beautiful song. I mean, we got to just watch the video on YouTube, which you are in, and it really captures your your heart, your soul, your your sweetness, your depth, and um so thank you so much for answering the call and and bring it to the world.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Thank you. It was a really beautiful experience, also.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Um how do you how do you feel listening to it and seeing yourself there?

SPEAKER_02 5:12

I mean, it feels it's been a while. I I actually listen um saw the video. Um I watched it a lot when it first came out. And now I'm just watching it again. I'm like, oh it's nice. Um, but I I also I think the experience of also um shooting the video was also really special. Um because um the person who reached out to me who did the video actually for free, her name is Avia, and she just heard the song and she's like, This is such a powerful song, please let me shoot a video for it. And I had like this already very different concept of a video in mind, and um and then she was like, I have a concept for this song, and when she was like sharing the concept, it were very similar, but it was like I just want you in this place, and and then when I was watching it, it just turned out I just felt like yeah, this is what the video um should be and um should have been anyway. So I'm just really grateful that the song is able to touch people in a way that I just want to be a part of it, and just um but it just really blesses them. I think that's a big um blessing from um the song, so I'm grateful for yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Oh my goodness, it's such a beautiful video, and it is such a demonstration too of of the power of the song that like you said, people just wanna be a part of it. And why do you think that is? What about the the the song, the energy of it do you think really speaks to people?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Um honestly, I I think even from the way that the song was written, um I I generally feel like um for me music um is just bigger than entertainment. Um so even as an artist, I really feel like music has the power to heal. So it's like um kind of in my bio, I wanna do music that's able to inspire but to also bring healing. And so I feel like because it's a song that's written from a very personal place, um, it's very, I think, genuine songwriting, you know. Um and so I feel like it's just very relatable for people. Um be constantly telling ourselves that we need to run with the s run with the, you know, with the pace that the world is forcing us to run with. And sometimes when you're doing that, it's really hard to just really stop and breathe. And for me, the song was a reminder to myself that I need to stop and breathe. I need to take it easy on myself. Um, I need to not allow the expectations of people dictate how my life goes or how I'm living my life and to just take it one step at a time. And I think that a lot of people can relate to that. And so I'm just I think just really blessed that in writing a story about my own self and my experiences, um other people can relate to to that. I think that that's such a blessing, um, honestly. And I think that's what people find when they listen to the songs like I can't relate to this. Um, I feel this, you know, so I feel like Amen.

riting From Pressure To Breathe

SPEAKER_03 8:25

Yes, we all need that reminder. It is so relatable. Everything you just said resonates so strongly. Um what is what's the origin of the song? Where were you in your life when you wrote it? Uh, how did it come through? Um, if you could share some of that with us, that'd be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Uh yeah, so um funny story. I just moved actually um from Nigeria to Europe because I I was kind of traveling between two countries. I moved to be with my husband in Germany, but I was schooling in Poland, and I used to travel by road. And one of those days while traveling, I was like just looking, you know, at the landscape and just like thinking of my life. And then I just started to have this rush of feeling like this um you haven't achieved a lot, like this underachieving feeling, it just rushed over me out of nowhere to be honest. And I just could feel myself like just dwindling all the way down in the car, just like wow, what a waste of time. And just right then I started to hear my mom's voice. And my mom is she's been such a guiding light in my life. Um, and not just because she's my mom, but she's been such a blessing to me. And in the moment I could almost hear her hear her voice telling me, like, you're you're doing too much, like, calm down. And so, um, right there, and then in the car, I started to hear like a lakaway. And a lakaway, it's um the original meaning is like a like a literate, like a student, like the one seeking knowledge. And so it made sense in that moment to hear that because I was literally on my on my way to school, and and it was just like the song is saying like it's like in a sarcastic way, saying, like, you the one seeking knowledge, like calm down, like listen to me. It's not always the way you plan for it to be. And right there in the car, I just wrote the entire I wrote the entire chorus and the first verse, and it just came to me like in a rush, like I could almost hear her voice, and I wrote it down. And um for the rest of the song, they would come as I speak to other people and hear other people in similar experiences, people who are going through um you know, phases where they feel like is this the end for me? And um, and that's how the second verse also came. I had a friend who was telling me, like, oh, at this point, is this the point where you start trying again, or is this the point where you start dreaming again? And I was like, actually, yeah, like whatever at whatever point you find yourself, you can actually dream again, you can try again. And who's to say that if one dream doesn't work out, that's the end? Like, you can reinvent yourself as many times as possible in this lifetime, as long as you're alive, and um, so that that's just the entire song. Like, it was just uh kind of like a traveling on the road, light bulb moment situation where I was just like, ah, and I remember like the rest of the journey, I kept telling myself, calm down. And even in the moment where I was trying to calm myself down, I started to see the things I had actually achieved. And I was like, Wow, for a moment there I just totally told myself your entire life has been a waste. And just in reminding myself that it's actually not been a waste, like I might not be where I want to be, and that's that can be an honest thing to say, like I don't have that grammy yet, or I don't have all the you know, all the things that I would have said I would have at that age. But then I have achieved um really beautiful things, and for those things I can be grateful, and even though I keep reinventing myself or I would you know, keep growing in whatever it is, I can look forward to the fact that there's always like so much I can do, and so that's what the song is saying. It's like it's not black and white. Um don't put a full stop when it's just a coma, you know, keep going. Um so yeah.

unknown 12:31

That's it.

he Car Ride That Sparked It

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Damn, yes, that's uh everything you're saying again, is it's so relatable. We've all been there, right? We've all had those feelings that we're not enough or we're not doing enough, and we've all had those moments of like, okay, am I gonna, you know, how do I reinvent myself? How do I move forward from here? And your song just beautifully speaks to all of those different points that happen within us um at different times. And I love what you just shared. It's like I wasn't really trying, like I wasn't doing anything, it just popped in this feeling, and then it led. It sounds like in some ways the song is an answered prayer. And so beautiful. So let me, I'm curious. One, I want to hear more about your mom. Your mom sounds amazing and awesome and wise. And can you share just a little bit about your mom?

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Oh my god. I I I could talk about my mom forever. Um, but she's um fresh as my mother. And she's um I would say she's been the first example of what it means to I would say truly live life on your own terms and not be what like society expects of you. Um my mom is someone who's been through a lot of pain in her life and been through a lot of um I think a lot of heartache, and but that's not defined her, and that's also not been very reflective in the way that she loved those people or responded to those people. And so many times I genuinely I think growing up, I always wanted her to give like a different kind of response to when people hurt hurt her, or like to, you know, I just wanted her to react like you know, just be human, you know. Um, but she always just responded very differently and she just has an idea of loving people that I think is I don't think it's it's very human, you know. She's just super forgiving. And I think as a child, you know, you tell yourself like oh over a course of over the course of time, you know, one day she's going to break or one day she's going to, you know, just get tired of being herself. But I mean, this is you know, I'm almost 30 and my mom is still my mom, she's still the same person that she is. And in fact, she's growing every day. And what's beautiful is the fact that she's also not the kind of person that believes that she can do no wrong, even if many times in my life I always felt like my mother can do no wrong, you know? But then she's like she's so easily like, you know, like she doesn't find correction a big deal, even from her kids. She listens, and especially growing up like in a Nigerian household household, I never felt that fear of my mom, or like she she was my best friend, I mean, up until I got married. She's still my closest friend after my husband, you know. Um, we would share things, talk about things, and I don't know how she did it because she didn't really have parents who raised her. My mom's dad died when she was really young, and her mom had like a mental illness, so she wasn't really raised, you know, she was just raised by the community and had really bad experiences, even from living with that person, living with that person. And I think in just the way that she became, it's almost hard to say this is how you grow up to the person that she is, you know. There's like such a big difference um from where she's come from to how she raised us and how she, you know, even without my dad, how she did everything, how she raised us to love my father, even if my father wasn't there. Um, I think she's just she's just a one in a million kind of person. Um I feel like she had every right to to to raise us to not like my dad. Um, but even when we were upset as kids and just mad at my dad for not being there, she would be like, you know, you just have to love your father. Um, you just have to pray for your dad, you know. And it wasn't because she was hoping that he was gonna come back home. It was because she just didn't want us to be in a place where we were bitter or angry, and I would forever be grateful to her for that because I have a good relationship with my dad, and it's not because like I'm deserving or he's deserving of it, but it's because my mom made that conscious decision to say, Don't talk bad about this man, like you know, pray for him, believe for him, and I'm just really grateful for for how she raised us and just all the lessons that she's taught me in my life. Um, they've helped me with the decisions that I have made. And um, she's also giving me wings to fly, so I never felt like my mother boxed me, even though she had my entire trust. Um, even as a teenager, she she had my entire trust. Like I told my mom everything and everything, and I feel like that really helped me because I found such a safe space with her, like in being honest about my feelings. Um, she was quick to say I'm sorry when she was wrong. She was quick to tell me to reevaluate what I'm thinking and saying, Oh, I think I don't think this is the right way, but I'm not gonna force you. And so that really challenged me even as a young girl to just really think my decisions through, but not feel forced. So, like I said, I don't know how she did it, and I don't know what wisdom, but my mom is um I owe so much to my mom, and I'm so grateful to her. Yeah, that's that's I could talk about my mom forever.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Wow, that's I could listen to you talk about your mom forever. I mean, she sounds like a saint and also just like a like a regular person with a huge heart. Oh my yeah, you I bet your mom gives really, really good hugs. I want to meet your mom and give your mom a big hug one day. She probably gives amazing hugs.

Mother’s Love And Forgiveness

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Yeah, she gives them she gives the best hugs, uh, to be honest. She gives the best hugs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

So we gotta have a couple more questions about your mom. What was her, what was her, what's her like spiritual upbringing or her approach? Like, is she religious? Is she more spiritual? Like how because it sounds like that's a big part, probably the foundation of her whole being, but maybe not. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Yeah, it definitely is. My mom is Christian, and she's been Christian for I think maybe like 30 something years. I'm also Christian. Um, and I think before she found Christ or before she gave her life to Christ was the time where I mean if she tells me stories from that time, I can't connect the person, I'll be honest. I'm like, no, I don't see it, you know. And so I think that um, like from her reasoning and just from the conversations with her, she's just really felt like she's been forgiven so much and she's been healed from so much. And so there's really nothing that anybody can do to her that would like make her want to lose that feeling of healing and forgiveness that she has enjoyed. Um, my mom's my mom bases everything on the word of God. Um and it's beautiful because it's not in the way that it was like trying to strangle us with it as a kid, as kids, but then I feel like she just lived her life, you know, like she just lived it out for us. Um, my mom just lived it out. Like there were many things that she never sat me down to say, Don't do this, or I don't want no, she just lived it out. It was just conversations and just like I don't know, it's just beautiful the way that she's able to connect her faith with how we were raised. Um and I really honor her for for it. I really honor the way that she represented um Christ to us and represented. I tell people like my mom is the closest um definition of Christ to me on the earth, like it's not my pastor, and I I I know a lot of great people, a lot of great Christians, but I think for a kid, like that was one of the easiest things for me to see. Um I I was looking at a v YouTube video one day where somebody was talking about how people get trauma traumas from their parents, and I s I was really watching the video and listening to the podcast, and I just realized for the first time that this woman actually, there's nothing she went through in her life that she could have passed on to us kids, that we would have said, Oh, it's because of something she went through that she actually passed on. Like she just had a way of loving us kids. I never felt like my brother was more preferred than me, but she loved us all very differently. She raised us all very differently based upon our personalities. But even when my old my other brother would get away with something, and I wouldn't get away with that thing, I knew it was because of my personality, and so I was never offended to say, oh, my mom loves my brother more than me, or my mom, my brother is more preferred than me. It just kind of represents the way, like, you know, it's like the way God loves the church and loves us all equally, and that's how my mom represented that to me. And so I think, in just the way that I also learned to love people, I don't really expect I'm able to love without expectations. Like I'm able to just be willing to give myself and not really expect. And so I'm really grateful for my mom and just how she's really living. Lebelt Christ and um I can't say Libelt Christ, but how she's really like, you know, acted it out for us and just been like, yeah, this is what the word of God says. So this is how I live. Um, so yeah, like that's a really big part of her life, a big part of my life also. And so I'm just grateful to be able to share that actually.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

Well, I'm so glad that you are sharing it. And I just want to reflect back to you. I mean, we we've only met for about 30 minutes or so, and it's so obvious that you embody that same Christ love. And and I say embody because so many people know about Jesus or know about the teachings of Jesus, but they're maybe not practicing them, maybe not embodying them, not for whatever reason. And it sounds like your your mother is a living demonstration and walking demonstration of Christ's love. And my guess is that you are as well through that through that demonstration as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

I try. I really try. I really try.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

Um What was your mother's reaction to the song? Now I gotta know her reaction.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Oh my god. First of all, she she has a very special reaction to all my songs. Um, but to a lack of way, I think she first of all asked me and said, um, she said, This is a very beautiful song, and I I see the message you're passing across, and then she said, but did the message come across to you also? She's like, you know, did you also really take that in, or are you just now saying it out to people? And I was like, actually, yeah, you know, like I'm taking it in one day at a time. She's like, Yeah, it's a good message. Make sure you get a piece of that too. I was like, Mama? But she has like the most beautiful reactions to my songs, and she's like my biggest fan, and she's the reason why I'm doing music, by the way. Um, so I'm really, really grateful. I'm really grateful to my mom.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

I love that woman. I love that woman so much. I really do.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

I really do. Well, the love you have for her is really beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

I really do, honestly.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

So let's talk a little bit about the lyrics. I'm curious when it opens with little girl, is that you talking to your little girl, your own self? Is that your mom you said you thought of your mom. Was that your mom talking to you? Like, hey, little girl, like what's what's that if you're willing to share a little more?

SPEAKER_02 24:25

Uh yeah. So um, Little Girl, Small Town, but you dreaming the night um was actually goes all the way back to when I first did when I first um decided to do music. I was really young. Um, I wanted to study medicine because I had this dream of I wanted to change the world, but I also wanted to be able to operate on kids for free. So I wanted to have like this big big medical practice that um would be able to fund um kids. And I was really inspired by there's a kind of heart foundation. I used to love growing up, and I'm like, I want to do what this guy's doing. And my mom would always tell me and say, I know you have this passion to help children and you want to bring some kind of healing. You feel that this is what you're supposed to do, but I really feel that music is your calling. Um, and so um one of the times that I finally chose music, I was really asking God what I was supposed to do, and I did have a dream, and I saw like these big lights and um everything, and that was like I woke up, I was like, okay, I'm gonna actually pursue music. Because I mean I always could sing, but I wasn't sure that it was something I was supposed to actually do for real, for real. And so the beginning of the song is kind of just talking back to me, you know. I didn't grow up with a lot, so kind of like small house, small, small town. Um, but then you dream in the night of big big city big cities, you know, bright lights. Um, and then at some point, I think in my life, I really started to have like all these goals. And the the year I wrote this song was the year I was turning 25. Um, so I was I had all these goals of you need to achieve, achieve, achieve this before you're 25. And so, which is why I was like 25, you know, in a castle, and I love to call your own. And um yeah, so that's like pretty much I was talking about myself in the beginning, and then center stage, I kind of also started to talk about because I know a lot of also other musicians, other singers, my friends who, you know, we're doing okay in life, but still like it's not the you know, you know, the big gun yet and anything. And so it's like kind of just like writing my story, but I also just pulling from the stories of other people and other experiences. But the little girl in the first part of the song was was definitely me. I was like, yeah, little girls don't have time in the night. Um, but not but I didn't write it just for little girls, I wrote it for little boys also, and just everyone who, you know, at some point in your life, you're like, Oh, before I'm this age, I'm gonna do this. And then you wake up and then you're like, hey, you know, all the time is gone. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Yeah, and I I know for me, I've had to grieve those things, those things, like, oh my god, like I got to a certain place and I'm not where I thought I was. And there's some grief, at least for me, that's come up in my life as those different things, and been able to kind of release those and see the whole picture, like how everything happens for a reason, but like there's still a part of me. And I know for so many people that grieve those things that, like, oh, I'm a certain age and life didn't work out the way that I thought it was gonna work out, and I'm here, and it's great. I like being here, but there's still a part of me that's grieving that. So um, I gotta ask, what would the younger girl who wanted to be a surgeon, you know, help kids, be a doctor, how would she feel if she saw you today?

SPEAKER_02 27:58

I think she'll be proud. Um honestly, I think she will be proud. Because even though um she's not where she thought that she was going to be, I think that um every time I perform music or I, you know, a couple of my other songs, I think one thing that people always always say like is I hear God in your voice, and I felt such healing. And I remember like when I first moved to Berlin, and one of the things that happened was that I I was singing in this show, and you know, I could see like men cry. And even when I went back home from my show, like in you know, um 2023, and the whole thing is like, oh, like Nigerian men don't cry also because you were in Europe, you know, men are emotional. And then I got back home and I was doing like a set of my songs, and I saw a couple of my friends, you know, men actually crying. And everybody says to me and says, like, your songs, they bring a kind of healing I can't explain. And honestly, it's not just for like it's not just Christians, like everybody says this to me, like from different walks of life. They just come and say, like, hey, your songs are so like deeply um healing, and I think that that was always the thing that I felt like with my life was that I would do um oh that dropped out, like I would do stuff that would like bring healing to people, and so I think that that little girl would would be proud. I mean, I don't have that big hospital yet. I'm still working on it. I I plan to own a couple foundations in my lifetime, um, but still, like, you know, I think she would be proud. I think that she'll be happy that I didn't veer off from just that dream of like healing the world in one way or another. Um, yeah, so yeah, I think she'll be proud.

hirty-Five And Starting Over

SPEAKER_03 29:57

The way that we define healing in Revelation Breathwork is that healing is simply loving the places inside that are hurting. It's not fixing anything that's broken or repairing anything. It really is a remembrance of our inherent wholeness as I would say Christ love. And um, clearly that is the energy that comes through in in your music, in your in your expression, just in who you are. And um I'll I'll share a very quick thing. Usually uh I wouldn't share this, but when I was a young kid, I wanted to be a pediatrician, which clearly not a pediatrician. Um, but I think like looking back now, it's like, oh, I want to help people. And there's something about like the innocence of kids that are just like innocent and joyful and playful when they're in safe environments, and it's like, huh, that it makes sense why like I'm I have that energy. This is kind of me when I connect to my true essence. Like, of course I'd want to help kids, like, because then they can be all happy and joyful. So um I can, you know, I I guess I'm seeing a little bit of myself and the story that you're sharing about the younger party that wants to help kids, and then you you're obviously in a totally different vehicle for bringing love to people, just like the vehicle I'm in is definitely not medicine. Um but yeah, so I think love finds its way that that we're most designed to express it in, and then bringing that into the world in whatever form, what form it is. So I appreciate you sharing that. So back back to the um back to the lyrics. So then you talk about being 35 years old and finding out your life has just begun. So is that kind of you thinking ahead, or is that acknowledging that there's always different you know, phases and reinventions? Because you were 25 at the time, and I'm curious where that reference to being 35 came from.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Oh, I came from um one of my friends. She turned 35 in 2023, and um I had the song actually, and I'd written like the second part of the of the second verse. Like it was supposed to be like an AA chorus, you know, A, and then a chorus. And so I'd written that the song, you know, like it's sunrise, open your eyes, life is waiting here. I hope you realize there's much more to you than what your mind can dream right now. And then I was having the conversation with her. Um, I hadn't seen her in so long. I was back home after like three years, and it was just chatting and tatting. And you know, at this point, she'd like gone out of the workforce for like a couple of years, um, and she was going back into it, and you know, there were just so many questions of saying, like, Am I gonna be good enough? Is it gonna work out for me? You know, like I spent most of my 20s, you know, like starting my family, taking care of my kids, and now I'm about to be, you know, this age, and this is falling apart, that is falling apart, and I'm just trying to pick up the pieces. And I remember like, but even in the conversation, I remember just telling her and saying, like, um, that same year, like she had started like dancing Southside again, and she had started like just being back to being herself again, and you know, like she got back in the gym and she was just having such a good time with life. And I was like, Yeah, it looks like life is falling apart, but at the same time, it looks like life is coming together even better than it's ever, you know, been before. And I was like, honestly, I don't even know where I found the encouragement, to be honest, mostly my mom. I get a lot, I use a lot of my mom's wisdom. But then um, I was just telling her, I was like, I really think your life is just about to begin. Like, I really feel like life is just starting for you, like you're about to start doing things that you didn't even think possible, like just allow yourself. And um right, I mean, and then I was actually rehearsing for like my my show in Lagos, and then the next day while I was just looking at the song, and I said, actually, there's another part of this song that needs to be there. And then um I read the part about like the you know, if one dream fails, you know, what what is it um 35? Um I wanna life uh was it which you open your eyes, life is waking you. I hope you realize there's much more to you um than what your mind can dream. And with every new step, you discover new ways. And if one dream fails, you'll go dreaming again. Um, because she also talked about things that have failed. And to be honest, in between 2023 and now, I saw her like this year, and we just talked, and her life is in such a different place with new challenges, but the things that were such a problem for her then are not the problem right now, um, because she's grown so much and she's glowing so much better. And she's like, actually, life just began, you know. And so that's where the second part of the song actually came from. It was from just listening to a friend tell a story. I'm like, I think I have the complete, like the finishing part of this song. And then I sang it actually at the show for the first time, and she was there, and then when I said 35 and she looked at me, she was like, you know, and it was a very special moment. But also, I think I think that's what makes the song um very special. But also, I think the way I I try to write music in general, I really feel like we're all just existing in this sphere with very similar stories. It's not the exact same thing, but the essence is is very similar. Like, you know, you people are going through different things and it looks so different, but it's the same. You know, pain is universal in whatever way that it comes. Um, fear is universal in whatever way that it presents itself. You know, doubt is universal in whatever way that it presents itself. And so just being able to draw from someone's story, it makes it more real when somebody else is listening to it because they can relate to the emotion that this person was feeling. It's like, try again, you know, it's sunrise. Open your eyes. Don't stay there hiding and um being afraid because that's all fear is gonna do, it's gonna keep you down. But when you get up, you know, you're gonna see the sunrise and then you can hope again. But if you stay under the covers and just hiding, you're just gonna stay in the darkness and you're not gonna realize there's light outside, you know. Um, so yeah, that's that's where the the 45 came from.

hy Hard Times Need Self-Compassion

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Yeah, we all need to hear that on our moments where we're feeling sorry for ourselves. That's so powerful. All right, I want to ask you about one more line. You talk about uh even when, and you don't say if, you say even when life gets hard, go easy on yourself.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

Can you share about there's a lot that you're saying in that I mean you can't go through life without it getting hard. Um hardness is just a part of life. Even if you're born on the top of the world, um hardness is just it's just something we all go through. It's something we all experience. And I think if we act like as if it's it's um something that's very far away, then when we are in the place of hardness, we don't realize that it's just a part of life. It it looks like it's something foreign or something that nobody else has experienced before, nobody nobody else has gone through before. And I think that when you um not to say like you minimize the intensity of your pain or what you're going through, but when you can accept it and know that even though I'm going through this, this is part of life. It happens, it's it's not the worst thing in the world. And that of course there are things that are very terrible that we go through, but I think it's important that uh people understand that uh it's really not the end if it's not the end. And so even when it happens, it's not if it happens because hardness will happen. You need to take it easy on yourself. It's very easy to blame yourself, it's very easy to point the finger at yourself, it's very easy to criticize yourself, you know. Mo people are people are able to criticize themselves more than they than they criticizing other people's like don't tell me how terrible I am. I already did that to myself. We don't say it out loud, you know, we don't want to admit it, but then in the darkness when the lights are out and it's just us with ourselves, we pull ourselves down so much. Um, and so it's like even when you get to that point, take it easy on yourself, um, give yourself some grace. And this is not to say like excuse yourself and don't you know take the hard decisions and don't make the hard choices. No, that's not what that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying even when you get to this point, go easy on yourself. Don't be the biggest critique of yourself in the room. Um, don't be the one that pulls yourself down even when you make a mistake. You know, like even when you feel like you've messed it up, yes, acknowledge the fault, but also be willing to say I can pick myself back up. Because when you go too hard on yourself, then you can't you won't you believe that you there's nothing good you can do out of that situation, and then you can never actually never come out of that place. You're just gonna stay there, stay in that pain, stay in that sta sadness, stay in that defeat. But then when you go a little easy on yourself, then you can say, Okay, maybe I can try again, or maybe I can try to fix that. If it's a broken relationship, I might not be able to, you know, get it back to a place where it's where it was before, or maybe I can mend it a little bit. Maybe I can just say I'm sorry, even if it doesn't fix anything. Um, I think it's really important that we accept hardness as a part of life. Um but even in doing that, you know, give ourselves uh credit so that at least we can pick ourselves back up when we fail and when we fall.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

So yeah.

ow Listeners Use The Song

SPEAKER_03 40:28

All I can say after everything is pretty much amen. It's just you're you're preaching, you're preaching, and it's beautiful, and I'm receiving, and hopefully everybody that's listening is receiving. Um you shared you shared about the woman who was so touched by the song that she wanted to do your video. Is there another um story of kind of fan responses to this song that stand out to you?

SPEAKER_02 40:54

Actually, quite a few. Um, I've had people reach out to me and just um tell me about how um the song has really brought them to a place of even like honesty with themselves. Um, I have had people who've reached out to me and said that the songs brought them to a place of hope. Um, at a time when they were feeling hopeless, like the song has pulled them out of a dark place. Um, in receiving this comment, I think it's the best thing um in the world. I've had people who say I'm gonna donate to your music just so you can make more music. Um I'm very terrible at releasing music, as you can see. Um, it takes a lot. Um, but when I get these comments, I think that they make it all worth it. And especially even with um with Avia, it was such a big surprise because we know each other in Berlin and you know we follow each other, and I've always been a great fan of her work, and I kind of know like how important it is for her for her video making and just even the budgeting and you know kind of what she charges. But then the way she reached out, she's like, I need to make a video ASAP. And I was like, I don't have a budget for this right now, you know. And she's like, No, you don't need a budget, and it was crazy because like she didn't let me pay for anything, like she even the like the yeah, like I've been trying to get her to invoice me, Avia. If you're seeing this, to invoice me for like the props and just the things that she got, like, and she's just like, no, this song is just so beautiful. I want the world to hear it. People need to listen to it, people need to, you know, people need to clear more of your songs, and it was just really encouraging. Um, I think all the comments I got on this song um were just really encouraging. Um, and I did get a lot of comments. Um, honestly, so much. My heart was just super full. Um, and so I'm just really grateful that people would even um feel these things, you know, like that this song can bring healing. It brings a kind of fulfillment that I can't explain. Um I honestly can't explain um how fulfilling it is when I get comments um um like this on on my songs or with my songs. I just usually would screenshot this comment and just put them like you know, in a folder and just be like, when I get tired or when I get like frustrated with music, I just go back and look at them and I'm just like, okay, I gotta keep doing this. Um so yeah, I'm grateful for those quite a quite a few that stood out to me.

here To Find Ola Online

SPEAKER_03 43:29

That's really smart. I hope everyone who's listening can hear what Ola is saying that when she had because we all have those like good moments, those maybe we get some feedback in something, and like you screenshot it and you save it for the moments where maybe you're feeling low or you just forgot kind of you know who you are really, and it's like, oh, this is a reminder. And it's so wonderful to have that because we have all the evidence of why we're not enough, and we can recount those very easily, but it's easy to forget all the all the really goodness that we are. And that we've brought to others. So whether it's a card or an email or a social media post, if anyone's out there and you have those, sit put them in one place where you can look at them and um rem remember who you are.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

So where can we find you?

SPEAKER_03 44:17

How can we participate more in your world?

SPEAKER_02 44:22

I'm everywhere and nowhere. Um, this is joking. Um but I'm on Instagram at the onlyola, um, the only O double A. Um on YouTube, um, I think Hola Music it is. I'm very terrible with social media. I'm so sorry. I'm on Twitter sometimes um at Ola Music, but that's very rare. I usually like I post most of my updates on Instagram, so if I'm posting anything, it would usually come from um Instagram. I'm working actually on my website, and um when that's up, I would link it in my Instagram bio. Um I think that's gonna be easier for me to communicate. I also want to start like kind of writing like like blogs about the music. Um like just encouraging people who listen to the music. I think it's healing is such a process where you need to constantly be reminded. And I'm grateful that I have constant reminders, people around me who send me things, and I feel like I really want to be able to do that for the community of people who listen to me. So I would let I would put that up on my um Instagram bio once I have the website running and once I have like um what's it called? Is it like uh email? I can't remember what to call it. Thank you once the mailing list is up um for those like monthly check-ins and everything. So yeah, but mostly you find me on Instagram, the only Ola. I post funny stuff when I'm jobless and I post music stuff when I'm serious.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

Ola, it is it has really been a joy to have you here. Um, your song clearly resonates with so many people. The love in it, the truth in it, the wisdom in it, the reminders of it, and you are such a bright light. I count me in with everyone else who wants to bring this song. If the whole world listened to the song, there would be incredible healing in an instant. And and I trust the timing of everything and how everything goes, but I I am here to bring this. And you, you need to be more in the world, you need to be more in front of millions of people to hear and receive your love and your mom's love through you. That's how we get to experience your mom through you. So thank you so much for being here. It's been a real joy and a privilege and an honor.

SPEAKER_02 46:43

Oh my goodness, thank you so, so much for having me. Um, this was really encouraging. And the thing you said off camera, I know, but um, it meant a lot to me and it means a lot. And I just want to say that you're doing amazing work. I saw a couple of the things you're doing, and I think that people underestimate how much um we lose when we're living life with so much brokenness and not really addressing the things that need to be um dealt with. And so I think that, you know, in the in the work that you're doing, you're doing something that's so impactful and so important and such a big piece of bringing even like healing to the world. So thank you for having me. This has been a really, really, really great honor to just be here to talk about the song and to also just be a part of what you're doing. I really appreciate it, I'm really honored, and really thankful.