Escaped Lions & Empty Oceans is a song about the importance of hope in the depths of depression and finding relief through nature. Inspired by a distinctly symbolic dream that provided a clear message that I needed to learn to navigate the inner waters of emotions and feelings or face losing touch with the depth and diversity of the emotional landscapes that make life worth living.

 

I have been obsessed with dreams for as long as I can remember and keep a dream journal by my bed. Almost every night of my life I dream of islands, oceans and airplanes and part of me has always felt that it’s my heart longing for the oceans around the world that I grew up beside now that I live at the farthest point possible from it in the middle of the country. And the other part of me knows that emotional difficulty and avoidance has been a huge theme in my life so far and my dreams are continually reminding me of this. I’m always struggling in a vessel on water, living on an island surrounded by the ocean or being engulfed by huge waves but this dream was different, a lion had escaped from a lorry and was ominously prowling the landscapes of my dream whilst I submerged under the ocean to find that it was devoid of all life. Traditionally the ocean is said to symbolise the unconscious and emotions and this dream was a clear message that I needed to learn to navigate the inner waters or face losing touch with the depth and diversity of the emotional landscapes that make life worth living.