Zenfull Heart | November 10, 2026
This past weekend I went to the Frank Brown International Songwriters' Festival at the Flora-Bama, right on the Florida and Alabama state line. I went to see my friend Lala Deaton and her boyfriend, Chuck Cannon. Chuck and Lala are both talented songwriters, and Chuck has written some big country hits, including Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?!" It was so much fun being around all those talented Nashville songwriters, hearing their music and learning the stories behind songs I have been listening to for years.
What I didn't expect was for one song to hit me so hard. D. Vincent Williams, who co-wrote Rascal Flatts' "I'm Movin' On" with Phillip White, shared the story behind it, and that song went on to win Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music. I wish I had recorded his whole introduction, because hearing him talk about where he was in his life when they wrote it was so powerful. He was getting ready to leave Nashville, give up on the dreams he had worked so hard for and accept that he might have to settle for a life he never really wanted.
As I listened, I realized how much his story connected with mine, but in reverse. He was getting ready to leave his dream behind, while I had spent most of my life settling for something I didn't even know I could walk away from. I didn't really have some big dream or vision of what my life should look like, I just wanted to be happy. I wanted love and kindness, some peace, a little adventure and someone to share it all with. It all seemed so simple, but somehow it always felt so far out of reach.
I have heard "I'm Movin' On" so many times over the years, but hearing Vincent share his own story made the song feel completely different. I could actually feel it all through my body. The words brought up so many emotions and memories of the life I used to live and the person I was back then.
Today, after having lunch with a friend, the song popped into my head. Something inside me wanted to hear it again, so I played it on my drive home. For almost 20 minutes I listened to the same song over and over, and every time a different line connected with another part of my story.
The opening verse talks about facing the ghosts and demons of the past and finally finding some acceptance of what happened. That alone brought back so much of what I have worked through over the past couple of years. I spent so many years stuck in a past I didn't even know I was carrying. Childhood trauma, deep abandonment, emotional neglect and the unhealthy patterns that followed me into adulthood had become such a normal part of my life that I didn't know there was another way to live.
By the spring of 2024 I was in one of the darkest times of my life. I was having suicidal thoughts, I hated myself, I was angry and I felt so empty inside. I spent so much time lying in bed, not able to see anything beautiful around me. The sunshine, the trees, nature and all the little things that bring me so much happiness now meant absolutely nothing to me then. I couldn't see the beauty in life because I couldn't find any beauty in myself.
Another part of the song talks about living somewhere familiar, surrounded by faces you know. That took me right back to the relationship I was in for over sixteen years. I knew so many different sides of my former partner, yet I never knew which version of him I was going to get from one moment to the next. Was I going to get the loving, gentle, affectionate man who supported me, or the angry one who criticized me, blamed me and put me down? Something as simple as a meal not turning out right, a forgotten grocery item or any little everyday thing could change the whole mood in the house. I got so used to never knowing what I would get that I didn't even realize how much of my life I spent trying to guess his emotions and walking on eggshells.
Then came the part of the song that really brought tears to my eyes, where he sings about having "loved like I should" but "lived like I shouldn't." Wow, did that hit home.
I loved with everything I had. I wanted to help him, fix things, encourage him and support the man I believed in. I didn't want to give up on him or on the future I kept picturing for us. I wanted him to be the loving husband and the dream chaser I knew he could be. I wanted us to go on adventures, laugh together and feel close, and I just kept hoping we would get there. I spent so much time loving what our relationship could be that I missed what it actually was, and somewhere in all of that I lost myself.
For years we talked about selling our house and moving south. We pictured a change of scenery and starting a new chapter together, even though we never really knew how we would make it happen. The house did eventually sell, but our lives went in completely different directions.
I sold what I could, packed what I couldn't, filled my SUV with what I was taking and drove away. I wasn't moving south to keep living the life we had planned, I was leaving that life behind and starting one I hadn't even imagined for myself.
Looking back, sometimes I think I should have known better or made different choices, but I also know I only knew what I knew at the time. I was carrying so much pain I hadn't dealt with that I didn't always see how it affected the way I acted. I could be negative and angry, and I was desperate for someone to listen to me. I talked about my relationship and my frustrations with people who couldn't really understand what I was going through. I just wanted someone to hear me, to see what was happening and maybe admit that the life I was living wasn't healthy.
Now I can see that a lot of that came from the scared, lonely little girl inside me who spent so much of her life feeling unheard and unseen. I wasn't always the person I wanted to be, and there are things I would handle differently today, but understanding where that came from has helped me have more compassion for that version of myself.
The song also talks about losing everything and maybe finding forgiveness somewhere along the way. Those words mean a lot to me, because forgiveness has been a big part of my journey. I have forgiven so many things, including some of my own behavior, but there are still memories I'm working through. I really do hope the people from my past find their own healing someday, know their worth and feel the peace that comes with it. Their journey is theirs though, just like mine is mine.
What makes this song so meaningful to me now is that I can look at the pain of my past without wanting to go back to it. I can remember the person I was, understand the choices I made and still feel so grateful for the life I'm creating today.
When Vincent shared his story, he was talking about a time when he thought he was walking away from his dreams. The song that came out of that time went on to win awards and touch so many lives, and here I am more than twenty years later, hearing that same song in a whole new way because of everything I have been through.
I never dreamed of being a famous songwriter or doing something big in the eyes of the world. My dream was simply to feel happy, loved, peaceful and free to be myself, and what amazes me is that I'm finally feeling all of those things.
I still have hard days. I still go back through memories, work through old emotions and find parts of myself that need some attention. I also wake up loving the sunshine, the beauty of nature, the freedom to travel, the people I meet and the chance to create a life that feels true to me.
I think that's what makes "I'm Movin' On" so powerful. It can mean so many different things depending on where we are in our lives. For Vincent, it came from the thought of leaving behind everything he had worked for. For me, it means finally leaving behind a life I had settled for and finding out there was so much more waiting for me.
Maybe the most beautiful part is that I didn't have to know where I was going when I drove away. I just had to give myself the chance to find out.
I'm still learning, still healing and creating my future, but I'm not waiting anymore for someone else to become who I need them to be before I let myself live.
I'm moving on, and this time I'm taking all of me with me.
Sending out love and hugs daily,
Zenfull Heart by Sherry
#ZenfullHeartHugMovement
