House of Hope was my second record. It received mixed reviews and it was not liked by my record company at the time, nor most reviewers in the US. However, in Australia and Europe, House of Hope sold more units than Union by almost double. I am still very proud of this effort, music has always been my healing and this record was no different.

I fell deeply in love during the writing of Union. That record was a snapshot of a connection I had with true love and possibility. Love is truly powerful. This love shone a light into the dark corners of my life. It lit up unconscious areas in me, areas longing to be seen, touched, held and healed. With great courage, I let myself sing out my buried memories and pain with my whole heart. Understandably, this music made some men and women at my record company uncomfortable. I would not know until many years later just how important this record was to my growth as a musician and as a whole person.

Though the American music industry gave the record a thumbs down and quietly let it fade out, I received letter upon letter from doctors, therapists, drug councilors, and individuals who thanked me for making House of Hope.

Two young girls who wrote very moving letters thanking me for giving them the courage to tell someone what was happening in their lives. Therapists and doctors told me that they were using my music to help clients connect to their deeper feelings, with great success. A woman and two young girls wrote, telling me that my music saved their lives. They wrote that they had planned to kill themselves, and then heard one of my songs in a store or in their car and it somehow changed their mind frame. Several women wrote that they heard ‘I’ve Got to Go Now’ on the radio and went home, packed and left their abusive partners.

For this reason I am very proud of House of Hope. At the time I wrote it there was a great deal of pressure on me to create another hit album. But my goal above all was to write something truthful. I thought if I could do that then it would be a success. It didn’t get nominated for any big awards or sell a lot of records, but it did reward me with something more valuable. It let me know I’m not alone, that we are more alike than we can know, and that I’ve been blessed with a special life.

I recently met Eve Ensler, author of the Vagina Monologues, while performing in a local Kauai Production. Backstage, prior to the performance, I had a chance to talk to Eve. She told me, House of Hope was a literal lifesaver for her at a time when she was driving aimlessly in a pit of despair. It had been nine years since I put out a record, and here I was in the company of this magnificent women, the music still living on.

One of my favorite movies is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. Eve gave me my own ‘It’s a wonderful life moment’. I realized in that moment meeting her: if I had never been born, and never made the music I made, Eve may never have written the Vagina Monologues., which in turn has touched and been a part of the lives and healing of many women around the world.

I believe that when we have the courage to share our darkest parts and our purest nature with each other we are evolution in action. We are creating our own 'House of Hope'.