Track 6: Finding Your Way When There’s No “Right” Way

After listening to Jonas talk about the tulip and the lonely boy in the lunchroom, I started to feel like I was getting a handle on this whole “finding your voice” thing. It felt like a treasure map with clear directions: listen to your heart, be a happy person on your own terms, and live out your dreams. I felt so certain.

But then I got to the sixth track on the album, “The Right Way,” and that certainty shattered. It’s a song that acknowledges the confusion of the journey itself, with lines like, “Maybe the answers / Don’t lie in right or wrong / Could there be no single road that leads to the truth.” It’s like the album is saying, “Surprise! It’s not a straight path after all.” It’s a moment of profound doubt, a return to the very beginning, and it shook me.

It validated a conflict I’ve felt inside me forever: the struggle to trust my instincts when they clash with what everyone else says is true. The album’s message suddenly felt vulnerable, and I had to know how Jonas reconciled this idea of “no right or wrong” with his earlier advice to follow your dreams. I had to know if he ever felt lost on this winding road. So, I asked him.

The Conversation Unfolds

Anaya: Was this song about you—or were you telling someone else’s story?

Jonas: Isabel and I were together on the road when I wrote this. We’d just had some tough visits with my family right before I wrote “The Right Way.” We’d been traveling a while and noticed how many strangers saw freedom and light in our lives, but my own family seemed to see only darkness and shadows. The difference was confusing. One night, sitting around the fire, as we often did, we talked about it for a long time. We asked ourselves things like, how could people furthest from me see something hopeful, while those closest to me saw only risk or recklessness? At one point, I asked Isabel, “Do you ever look back and wonder if we turned so hard toward freedom that we missed a sign saying we weren’t supposed to?” She laughed and said something about a sign nailed to an old tree that said “turn back ye dreamers” but it was in another language! We had a good laugh about that; Isabel was pretty funny. Anyway, to answer your question, no, the song isn’t really about me. It’s someone else’s story, because it’s a mirror. One that reflects a culture afraid to move, to choose, to trust.

Anaya: The idea of a “mirror” is really powerful. It makes me wonder, did the song eventually help your family see themselves or you differently?

Jonas: That’s a good question, Anaya. I’ve noticed that mirrors only really help people see themselves differently when they’re truly ready for what the mirror shows. With my own family, I eventually understood that they needed to see me as a tragic figure. Luckily, I found experts who could explain this dynamic, which actually turns out to be pretty common. What they taught me is that my family had to do that because it made them feel better about their own choices and not taking any risks outside of what was expected. I was really grateful for that lesson because it allowed me to swap out any judgment or hard feelings I had for my family with compassion and understanding. It also let me let go of the idea that your family is the most important thing. What I learned is that the most important thing is having people who truly see and love you for who you are. Sometimes, that’s not your family, and that’s totally okay.

Anaya’s Reflection

Listening to Jonas talk about this song as a mirror was a big a-ha moment for me. He wrote it about a painful time with his own family, a time when they saw his life of freedom as something reckless. And yet, he says the song isn’t about him at all—it’s a mirror for a culture that’s afraid to move, to choose, to trust.

This is the central tension of the album, isn’t it? The conflict between what society wants for you and what your own heart longs for. It’s the painful reality of trying to live out the advice from “Don’t Forget Your Dreams”. The idealism of following your dreams collides with the very real fear of the “consequences” that might follow from family or friends who see you as a “tragic figure”. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s a freeing one, too.

Jonas said the most important thing is having people who truly see and love you for who you are, and that sometimes, those people aren’t even your family. That gives me so much hope. I’m learning that living a fulfilling life is a choice we make every day, and it starts with remembering who we are and what we love. This track feels like a vulnerable moment on Jonas’s journey, and it’s a powerful reminder that the road is winding and dangerous. But it also shows that if you hold fast to your dreams, you can still find your way through.

If this song stirred something in you, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Have you ever felt like you were choosing between truth and belonging? What did you decide—and why? And if this is your first time hearing the album, I recommend starting at the beginning. Each track builds on the last like stepping stones on a winding path. Want to keep walking it with me? Subscribe to the blog.