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The new single from Chris Swan and Soul Motivation Records is coming on January 1st!
The song is designed to help us start the year with the right mindset. If we are thankful for what we have and we believe God will provide what we need, then there's no need to worry. There's plenty to go around when you are living abundantly!
Oh yea, and it’s a jam.
I've always loved this song by Rachel Platten. I thought it would be cool to do a hip-hop version of it. So here is what I came up with. Hope you dig it!
http://bit.ly/2Q4c5ad - To get a free download of Fight Song!
Chris Swan will be performing LIVE at Evangeline’s in St. Louis on December 18th, 2018. With Steve Lord joining on drums, the two will be playing songs from Welcome To The Fellowship, Swan’s latest release from Soul Motivation Records.
The set will also be featuring music from Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and select 90’s hip-hop jams! You won’t want to miss this one.
Evangeline’s is located at 512 N Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
The new single from Chris Swan is here and this time it’s a cover song!
“I have always loved this song and thought it would be cool to do a hip-hop version of it. I tried to take elements of the song that were already very hip-hop in nature and exaggerate them. I hope you dig it,” says Swan.
We are excited to announce that…
Click the link below to check out our new store and get 20% off on everything in the store!
The newest single from Chris Swan is coming December 1st, 2018 and this time it’s Chris’ first cover song - Fight Song by Rachel Platten!
Chris took this already awesome song and extracted the hip-hop elements from it and turned it into a hip-hop jam.
We can’t wait for you to hear it!
Chris Swan recently had the opportunity to hang out with with Willie B in the studio on his show Turn Up To Turn Down on KDHX in St. Louis! Click below to take a listen to the interview:
“My mission with this record is to help others overcome their obstacles and to find the hope that is waiting for them,” says Swan.
Here’s a behind the scenes look at the making of Chris Swan’s sophomore release from Soul Motivation Records - Welcome to the Fellowship!
I know hearing other people's stories has been a huge inspiration in my recovery. So I thought I'd share mine. Hope you find some hope in it today.
It’s here! My very first music video ever! It’s for my song Perfect. Check it out and be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Fear rules so many of our lives. Sometimes it’s silly little things like being scared of mice. That’s me. Mice really freak me out.
But sometimes the fears are bigger and much more damaging, like the fear of what other people think of us. We are so scared of not being accepted by people that we become overly cautious of what we let people see of ourselves. As life goes on, we start stock piling secrets like an apocalyptic survivalist hoards water and canned goods. The only difference is our stash is going to kill us, not save us.
So many of us cling to our secrets trying desperately to keep them hidden from the world. We are all so convinced that our closeted skeletons are so much worse than anyone else’s. We think things like…
Our fear is that if we let people see behind the curtain, they will judge us and think we are awful people beyond repair. Perhaps they will tell others how messed up we are or post our secrets on social media. Perhaps they will start talking about us behind our backs. Or what if they call the psych ward and have us committed?! We are constantly telling ourselves…
The truth is people have way more empathy than we give them credit for. People want to see our flaws because it makes them feel better about their own. It also bonds us and brings us closer when we make ourselves vulnerable and share our inner most secrets.
Finally, we can’t continue to hold onto these secrets and expect to stay healthy and sober. This is precisely what has made us so sick in the past and if we expect to continue on a path of bettering ourselves, it is crucial that we put everything out on the table.
It’s time to clean out our closets. Our lives and our relationships depend upon our honesty and transparency. We need to not let fear rule us. We need to push on through and let the world see who we really are. It will help us experience a freedom like no other and people will love us for it.
P.S. I am giving away three of my most popular, inspiring songs for FREE. Just enter your name and email below and I’ll send them to you right now!
For years when I was drinking and overeating, my biggest fear about quitting was “What will I do with the time? What will I have left to make me happy?” I always came up short, unable to come up with something. I was so scared my life would be empty and boring without my addictions.
When I quit drinking, food became my substitute. Instead of alcohol, I just doubled up on food. And there was some comfort in knowing that I had a back up vice to turn to. At least I had one comfort left.
Ironic how the substance that is supposed to give us life was actually taking mine. And all because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find happiness without it. I had to let my overeating go but how could I possibly find any joy in life without it? With food being my final vice, what would I substitute this addiction with?
Then came OA. And I discovered a permanent substitute for all my addictions. One that really worked and brought joy into my life. Real joy. Joy that would last longer than a drinking binge or a 2 hour meal. One that didn’t include hangovers, guilt or shame. It was the answer I had been seeking for all these years.
I finally found my people in the rooms of OA. We are the same in so many ways. Finally I am not alone. We are all in this together. I am surrounded by an army of people who get it. And I can’t overstate how much comfort I find it that. For years, I tried to overcome my addictions alone. It felt overwhelming and impossible.
But there is strength in numbers. I have meetings I can go to so I can stay connected to people who care. I have people to call when I am having a hard time. I get to serve my fellows by picking up the phone and encouraging them when they need it. There is also a lot of hope in hearing another’s story of struggle. And also hearing the stories of those who have overcome their addictions.
I am choosing community and connection over isolation and addiction. There is so much more joy on this side. The fellowship brings true joy and peace that I never was able to find in alcohol or food.
I finally found the substitute I have been searching for my whole life. This is what true happiness feels like.
If you can relate to this, I would highly encourage you to check out AA or OA, depending on your drug of choice. The fellowship is waiting with open arms. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
It's coming...
Welcome To The Fellowship, the newest album from Chris Swan, will be released to the world on November 6th, 2018! That is so long to wait though, right?
Worry not.
You can preorder your copy right now! And the best part is this - if you preorder today you save 20% on the album PLUS you get to download 3 singles from the album immediately after purchase! How awesome is that?
Click here to preorder your copy of Welcome To The Fellowship!
I can't wait for you to hear this album. It's all about my recovery from addiction including the struggles, the pain and best of all the hope! Be sure to hit the button below and preorder Welcome To The Fellowship today!
Chris Swan’s sophomore release from Soul Motivation Records is coming November 6th, 2018!
Welcome To The Fellowship contains 10 songs that chronicle Swan’s story of struggle, recovery and ultimately hope!
“My mission with this record is to help others overcome their obstacles and to find the hope that is waiting for them,” says Swan.
Perfect
The new single from Chris Swan is here!
I always thought that I was supposed to try to be perfect. It turns out I was wrong. We are already perfect the way we are. How awesome is that? This song is a reminder that we are perfectly imperfect as we are.
You don’t have to try to be perfect anymore.
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
Hit play to hear what inspired my song Perfect and what I hope you get out of it. And be sure to share this video with those who you think need to hear it!
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
"I always thought that I was supposed to try to be perfect."
I am a perfectionist. Always have been since I was a little kid. Almost to the point of being obsessive about some things. I am very grateful that God made me this way because it drives me to work hard and to strive to be better. But it has also brought its challenges.
My goal has always been perfection. I don’t think I really realized that in my conscious mind for a long time, but in my subconscious mind that has always been what I was trying to achieve. And the reason is this:
If I’m perfect, then no one can hurt me.
If I have no flaws and I am superior at everything I do, then no one can say anything negative about me. Even better, if they do, I’ll know they are crazy because I’m perfect. I have no flaws. My pursuit of perfectionism was my defense mechanism. I know this is true because even to this day if someone says something bad about me or I feel inferior somehow, I get a drive in the pit of my stomach to go be the best at something. That’s when I want to practice the most, or write songs or study something. Because I want to be able to prove to them that I am amazing. So I go to work mumbling under my breath “I’ll show them!”
The real result of this mindset has been constant failure and a very deep, dark depression. I could never live up to my expectations of myself, therefore, I was always failing. Instead of being the best at something, I was a loser at everything. I began to hate myself because of this. And it got worse and worse as I got older. Until one day I looked in the mirror and I was a 500+ pound alcoholic.
I was frustrated and sad constantly. I could never accept love from other people because I didn’t love myself. I was lonely. Never good at long term relationships. I was finding comfort in food and alcohol. Like A LOT of food and alcohol! And I was barely hanging on to life. On the outside I seemed cool, laid back and fun. But on the inside I was steaming mad at myself, stressed out and angry.
Is this what being perfect is all about?
I finally had to accept the fact that I will never be perfect. Ever. It is hard for me to even type that sentence right now. But I finally know that it’s true. And I know it has been a big source of pain in my life. I have to let it go.
Now, I am striving to be perfectly imperfect. I laugh at myself a lot because I really love who I am. The pressure is off. I can be me and use all that energy I use to put towards trying to be perfect towards something that matters. Like making music that will change people’s lives. Telling my story to those who need to hear it. And being a part of a community again full of imperfect folks just like me.
I wrote a song all about my struggle with perfectionism called….ready for it…”Perfect.” If perfectionism is something you struggle with, I hope you’ll take a minute to check it out. I think you will be able to relate to a lot of it. And I think you may walk away knowing you are already perfect the way you are.
Perfect
Coming October 1st, 2018!
P.S. Funny side note. I made a few short promotional videos announcing this single to the world. On accident, I misspelled a word in two of them. After publishing them to my Facebook page, I noticed I had misspelled a word. I could have taken them down and fixed it. The old me wanted to. But I decided to leave them up. What a fitting tribute to a song called “Perfect.” :)
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
Announcing the new single from Chris Swan and Soul Motivation Records...
I always thought that I was suppose to try to be perfect.
It turns out I was wrong.
Perfect
Coming October 1st, 2018
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
Sometimes we feel lost. We feel unsure of our future. And I’ve found in my recovery from alcoholism and food addiction, these feelings creep up more than ever before. There are some days that I feel on top of the world. Those days are a lot of fun. And it’s important to enjoy them. But there are also a lot of hard days where I miss the comfort I use to experience from my old vices. Sometimes I feel completely empty with no substitute for these substances. I feel like I’m all alone. I feel like it’s unfair that I don’t get to enjoy the things that other people seem to be able to.
After I wallow in my pity party for a few moments, I pull myself out by remembering how miserable my life use to be when I was using. It’s so easy to forget that and to just over romanticize the good ol’ days. But the old days were not all good days. They were mostly awful so I have to remind myself of that fact.
The next thing I can do, is look to the promises of the Big Book of AA. These are examples what of others have experienced from going through recovery and just knowing that these await me is more than enough to pull me out of my pity party. On days that are really hard, I can hold onto these promises. You can find all of them on pages 83-84 of the Big Book. But here is a summary of some of my favorites.
The Big Book promises us that we will know a new freedom and peace that we have never felt before. We will not regret the past. We will see how our experiences can benefit others. The feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear. Self-seeking will slip away. Our outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will know how to handle hard situations. We will realize that God is doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves.
What amazing promises these are. They reassure me that I am truly living the life I was meant to live. These promises are the things I have been searching for my whole life. I am so thankful to finally be on the path to achieve them.
If you are having a hard day, I would challenge you to pick up a Big Book and read through the promises. There is also a great PDF with a list of the promises you can find by clicking here. There is always hope. There is always a better day coming. And knowing that other’s have experienced this fact, is often just enough inspiration to get me through one more day.
What is your favorite promise in the Big Book? Leave me a comment and let me know how it has changed your life.
Lost? Not sure where to go next?
