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I still haven't been able to capture the joy of what it's like when I sing - you know, when I'm by myself, or like when I was a little kid.

It took me until my teenage years to realize that I was medicating with music. I was pushing back against my stupid school uniform, instructors who called me by my last name and my classmates, who, while friendly enough, were not at all inspiring.

I don't over-sing anymore, which I used to suffer from terribly because I couldn't hear myself.

I realized that there was much more to my voice than I'd ever been led to explore and that I could make my own songs.

In college, I faced an interesting problem. I wanted to play music all the time and yet I wasn't ready for anyone to hear it. To remedy this, I took to retreating to stairwells as a safe place to sing and write music. It was there that I wrote most of my songs in college and really grew into an artist.

Ironically, being a coach on 'The Voice' and spending time with those kids, Xenia and Dia especially, I learned a lot about myself. It reminded me how lucky I am that this happened for me, and it kind of lit the spark inside me again for my love of music.

Growing up, I always wanted to sing.

I've been blessed with the ability to sing, and that has taken me so many places I never would have gone otherwise.

Basically, I started singing when I started talking. Music has just been my saving grace my whole life.