8/27/2018 0 Comments August 27: Tell about the Best Gift You Received... and the awkward first times, new beginnings, fresh starts from it.
Writing Prompt: I remember when I received the gift of.....
I remember exactly how it felt when I lifted it up from under the Christmas tree. A guitar. A guitar?
I was taking a guitar class but never expected, didn’t even ask, to receive such an extravagance. I was the one who thought of everyone else first. My flimsy, not-that-important desire to sing and play guitar and be the next generation Carly Simon had any real bearing to the rest of the world. A guitar. I don’t remember when I first played it – though I do remember the first song which then launched me into a daily guitar playing practice before I even knew there was such a thing as practice. Unlike the clarinet which was chore like to me, guitar was pure pleasure. My brother, Jim gave me a follow up gift which was almost as exciting as the guitar itself. I remember sitting in our big blue Dodge Van at the Willowbrook Mall. Jim handed me a package and inside was a book called “Carly Simon Complete” which was part biography, part sheet music collection. The first song I played was “Anticipation” and much of my free time became practicing singing Carly Simon songs and then Carole King songs and then occasionally writing a song or two or seven or more of my own. I haven’t written a song in years, but oh, it feels so great to remember those gifts. Key threads? I almost cried when I received both. I didn’t give a thought to being bad at playing or singing because the desire was so much larger than the fear. When in doubt, stir up desire. It can rise up above that fear goblins any time. Tell me about the gifts you have received. In our live broadcast on Periscope today, I shared about my awkward first attempts at livestreaming. This week #5for5BrainDump will be live on Periscope at 630 am PDT and at 4 pm PDT on Facebook Live at JJSWritingCamp. Hope to see you there!
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Julie Jordan Scottis the founder and creator of 5For5BrainDump. She has been inspiring artistic rebirth since 1999. Archives
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