Singer/songwrite Cristabelle Braden has new music that is borne out of her experience with a severe brain injury. Cristabelle gives insight on "Different Kind Of Warrior" below:
"Since my brain injury, music has been a way of coping. When you feel like a stranger in your own head, it's hard to find a way to express the feelings of emptiness, pain, and chaos that come with having a TBI.
I never wrote music before the brain injury and afterwards songs began to pour out of me. In the early stages of rehab therapy, when I couldn't hold conversations well, I was writing songs. It wasn't easy to explain, the doctor said music affects the brain differently, and told my parents to go with it and nurture that. Writing songs has been cathartic, a way to release my jumbled brain thoughts and feelings. I truly believe the Lord used music in a big way for healing. It started just as my own way of survival. I never even considered anything beyond that, or even thought about making a cd! But as I began to slowly share my songs, I really saw how music can communicate hope and life to others, in a way nothing else really can. There's a lot more to the story, but the Lord began to open doors I never would have sought on my own. My heart beats for helping and loving people who are hurting. When I saw music could do that, it changed my mindset about songs.
Since then, I've been writing songs not only to express my struggles, but to help & encourage others going through difficult circumstances. I never want anyone to feel as alone and afraid as I did. My goal has been to create songs that are transparent, vulnerable, honest, but also encouraging and full of hope and life for all who hear. To know that you're not alone. To know that your life matters. To know that your story is not over.
My upcoming song carries all of that and is one of the songs I'm most proud of. I want all who hear it to know that being a warrior is more than what people see. You are a warrior even if you don't feel like one. You are a different kind of warrior, and that's what makes your story so beautiful."
See Cristabelle's thoughts on her story here, and listen to the single below!
