Track 7: Subject: The Quiet Courage to Keep on Keeping On

When I first heard the album Songs in the Key of Return, the first track, “Tulips Don’t Wait,” hit me hard. It was this incredible image of a flower that just blooms, without permission from anyone or anything. It felt like a direct invitation to me and my generation to find our own voices and stand apart from the noise of the world. I thought I understood the journey. After the powerful message in “Don’t Forget Your Dreams”, I felt even more certain, like the path was clear and all I had to do was follow my heart.

But then came “The Right Way”, a song that shattered my certainty. It was about how easy it is to feel lost and how you can’t always trust the world to lead you to the truth. It left me feeling vulnerable and shaken. But now, with the seventh track, “Keep on Keeping On,” I feel a renewed sense of purpose. This song is an anthem for the long haul, reminding me that the journey isn’t about dramatic moments, but about the quiet, persistent fire that keeps you going. It’s about being driven by a deep “appetite” to live your truth. I wanted to know what kept Jonas going, what he had to fight against to keep his fire burning, especially during the darkest parts of his journey.

So go ahead and listen to the track right here on the page, and then let’s get into the conversation.

The Conversation Unfolds

Anaya: What was happening in your life when you wrote this?

Jonas: This period marked one of the few truly dark times in my journey. Isabel and I had built a stable life on the road, feeling like we had everything we’d been searching for, when suddenly I lost her. A friend called, warning her the police were looking for her back home and knew she was with me. To protect me from being implicated, she decided to turn herself in, not wanting them to use me to find her. When I asked if she was in danger, she said no—it was a small but significant issue: a protest that escalated, involving some property damage and a security camera.

In the weeks that followed, it felt like bad luck was relentlessly pursuing me. First Isabel, then just a week later, a man and his 10-year-old son accosted me in a parking lot, calling me a “freak show”. I quietly left before things escalated. But two months and a thousand miles later, in a public beach parking lot, I was attacked by a local restaurant owner over a parking spot. The police arrived, I was handcuffed, and put in the patrol car.

I was fortunate that day; there were many people around, and three teenagers bravely stepped forward to tell the police that the story they were being given was completely untrue. One even had a video. All of this was happening while I was still locked in the police car, unaware of what was unfolding outside. A few minutes later, the officer returned and opened the door. He told me I was free to go, explaining that some young people at the café had witnessed what happened and one had recorded it. He added that I was lucky they spoke up.

Those few weeks underscored my vulnerability and made me question my entire path. About a week later, I called my best friend Thomas. He immediately sensed something was wrong. We talked about everything and nothing—the road, the food, the weather in Charlotte. Near the end of the call, I remember Thomas saying, “You’re still out there for a reason. Just keep going. Write it all down. Play it out. Let it say what you can’t”.

After we hung up, I stared out the windshield for a long time. Eventually, I pulled out my notebook and, out of sheer necessity, wrote: “Keep on keeping on.”

Anaya: It sounds like your friend Thomas and those teenagers were a huge part of your ability to keep going. It wasn’t just a solo act. Can you talk about the role of other people—your “community”—in helping you maintain your path, especially when you felt most vulnerable?

Jonas: Yeah, Thomas was my best friend, and had been since I was a teenager. We’d been through a lot together, and he always had my back. Those teenagers in Florida who saved me that day became part of my community because they had my back in a truly dangerous moment. They didn’t even know me, but they saw me. They saw what was happening was wrong and had the guts to do something. Over the years, I met lots of people like that as I moved in and out of their communities, their businesses, sometimes even their homes. But I knew I needed to go deeper and find a community I’d see every day. When I ended that tour to release this album, it was with the intention of finding that community, and I did. In this community, people like Scott, Mira, your mom, everyone I see weekly for dinner at the Grange, all my friends at the art collective — they all have one thing in common: they see me and value me for who I am, not who they want or need me to be. That’s how we help each other stay true to ourselves. By seeing each other, accepting each other, and appreciating our unique parts that fit together to create something bigger than all of us.

Anaya’s Reflection

This song is a direct continuation of the journey from “Don’t Forget Your Dreams”. If that song is about planting the seed of your dreams, this one is about the “serious determination” needed to make it grow. It’s the follow-up to the fork in the road we heard about in “The Right Way,” providing the endurance needed to choose the path of one’s youth dreams and stay on it.

Jonas’s story of being attacked and the quiet support from his community and even from strangers who didn’t even know him, gives me so much hope. He said the teens in Florida “saw him”. This is exactly what he talked about in “Happy Man”, when he said the most important thing is having people who truly see and love you for who you are, and that sometimes, that’s not your family, and that’s totally okay. I think a lot of people my age feel this way, and knowing that it’s not only okay, but a fundamental part of the journey is really freeing.

With every track, I’m learning that this album is a kind of navigation guide, with each one offering a vital lesson. “Keep on Keeping On” is a powerful reminder that the journey is not a solo act; it is a collective one, a constant choice to find, build, and nurture a community that helps you stay true to yourself. It reminds me that I have a choice to stay on my path and that it’s okay to accept help along the way.

Have you ever felt like giving up, but something—or someone—helped you take just one more step forward? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. “Keep on Keeping On” is a reminder that even the smallest decision to continue matters. If this song spoke to you, listen to the full album and see how each track builds on the next. And if you’d like to keep exploring this journey together, subscribe to the blog.