Let's start from the very beginning...

Let’s start from the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.Remember that time you went to Starbucks and had that really deep conversation with your best friend about how your life was going? Yeah, I remember too. I actually wrote about it and I’m going to post in on my blog now. Don’t worry, I don’t know your name and no one will see your face (on this blog). This idea started one day when I was sitting at a coffee shop in Jacksonville,Fl. My plan was to sit and sketch and read and just enjoy the view outside. I started a very sad attempt at sketching the entrance to memorial park. It wasn’t really about the sketch, it was more about taking the time to zone out and take a break from school and work. SO… I’m sitting there minding my own business when I catch part of a conversation going on behind me. Two young guys in their twenties talking to an older British man about how tired they are. They just flew in from their tour in Europe, opening for James Taylor. hmmm… this isn’t something I hear about everyday. I start listening on purpose now. This older British man was clearly in the music industry and had a lot of wisdom to share. He started talking about song writing… why? well, because these guys were currently writing lyrics for THe Who… OK, pretty Legit. So, the British man sitting behind me (whom I can only tell is British because of his accent. I caught a glimpse of him and he seemed to look more like a hippy with a grungy shirt and grey hair longer than most girls’ that live in the area) says that writing a song is not about writing what others want to hear. It’s about writing what you’re feeling. “screw what the people want, write from your emotions”. If you write for them, it never turns out the way they want it. Write what you are going through and people will respond. He spoke about how much work this will take and how you’ll go through at least a dozen songs before you write one that’s decent. but keep writing. He then said something profound. I’m not sure if it’s been said before but he said this phrase like he owned it, and I will never forget it. He said, ” a good songwriter is just a bad songwriter that kept trying”. I take this to be true in every area of life… whatever you want to do… do it from your heart, because you want to do it, and then keep working at it. Their conversation continued for a little while longer. One of the young men talked about wanting to settle down one day since he is now engaged. The older gentleman spoke about knowing the man who wrote the book about the Beatles (the book costs like $100, he said). I hope you see my heart in this. It’s not to eavesdrop or to gossip. I feel that there is something to be learned when we stop and listen to what’s going on around us. I don’t know, maybe there’s something inspirational, or maybe just something that will make you laugh.

I hope this inspires you to keep trying, even if you’re bad at something. Not many people start out as experts or famous geniuses but they keep trying anyway.