India.Arie is one of my favourite singer-songwriters.

On her last album, she wrote a song called “Life I Know.” It’s a beautiful song that I love, but I hadn’t heard it in while. Yet, it lodged itself in my head this morning as I walked in Munro Park, and I was glad to roll it around in my brain, and think about the phrase “this is the life I know.” Her lyrics aren’t exactly my situation and thoughts, as she’s writing about being a single woman in her forties and not being sure where she belongs. And I’m a partnered woman in my thirties, with someone else to help “cut the grass, take out the trash and fill the gas.”

But the song still makes my heart happy. It is still a place for my heart to rest and go “Ahhh, yes.” There are still elements of it that resonate in me as if they had plucked a string. To me it’s not a strictly sad song, it’s a thoughtful song. Contemplative, and coming up with joy at the end of the contemplation. True, hard-earned, simply beautiful joy, because although life does turn out a little differently than nearly everyone had thought it would, yet it is still my life, our life. It is the life I know.

What tomorrow brings, I do not know
Yes, I know it’s unconventional
But it’s the life I know.

You can hear the recorded version of the song here and see a live performance of it here. You can read the entire song lyrics here.