Story & Lesson Highlights with Beth Whitney

Beth Whitney shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Beth, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I recently learned to fly fish and there is nothing quite like having a fish on the line!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m a singer/songwriter in the Pacific Northwest. Aaron and I met when we were small but didn’t start dating until college when we both walked into the music building one midnight. He had his upright bass and saw I had my guitar and he said, “Wanna jam?” We started playing shows together and married soon after that. After touring a bit as part of a band years ago, we decided to slow our pace and move to the mountains. Two children later, we now Iive in the woods in a town with not much more than a friendly hardware store.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
This reminds me of a verse from Bob Dylan’s “Shelter From The Storm” that’s usually left out of recordings where he said, “and now the bonds are broken but they can be retied / by one more journey to the woods / the holes where spirits hide / it’s a never ending battle for a peace that’s always torn / come in she said I’ll give ya shelter from the storm.” Maybe what could restore our bonds on personal (and national) levels, is a divine combination of confession, forgiveness, compassion, justice, and a commitment to understand and do what is right. When we get trapped in fear and rigid with self-preservation, it’s tempting to box up the people around us with generic and empty name-calling. But I do believe it is God who sustains us, not our white knuckles on the armrest. We can rest in Him, then rise and do what is just, love mercy, and walk humbly holding the hand that made us.

Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
There was a field by my house growing up with grass taller than me at the time. As a kid I’d make tunnels through it and shape places to lie down and look up. I can still see the blue sky framed with blades of illuminated grass. I cried when it was mowed and remember wondering if the spit bugs were able to escape.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes. Although it shows a very small snippet of me and almost nothing of my day to day. Of course I’ve grown and changed a lot over the years, as people do, so I’m sure there are earlier songs/interviews/etc that are more of a snapshot in time than a reflection of who I am now.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would throw my phone in the lake.

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Image Credits
Eratosthenes Fackenthall
Mark Alvis
Jon Hagedorn
Michael Krantz

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