How I Fell in Love With Writing

There is a team, a couple of people who work with me at Flowerbud. They are very young and they have their own graphic design/ tech business situated in downtown Portland. It amazes me how they got started, how they are self taught and how they literally have their own business, a thing that seems so abstract and overwhelming to me. 

I've listened to Michael, a founder at Colorcubic describe the events that lead him to start doing graphic design. And his story made me think about putting my own story in words. So here I go:

Looking back now, a steady stream of events occurred over the summer between my high school graduation and my entrance to college. That's where it all began. Actually I lied, it started much earlier than that, so let's travel back into the days of middle school. 

My father has always been a man to listen to rock 'n' roll, stuff from the 50s and sixties, like Elvis, the Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Motown classics etc. By the time I was in elementary school, I could sing all the lyrics to any oldie that came on the radio and as I entered middle school, my dad moved on to listening to Classic Rock stuff as well. 

A few classic rock songs stick out in my head as really being memorable and serving as turning points. I remember LOVING Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town." There was something about it that really reminded me of a fifties scene and I loved that. 

I remember hearing a whole slew of good songs that sounded like they all belonged to one band, but I didn't know what it was until I hear "Breakdown" on my way to the beach with my mom and Aunt Christine. I loved the water and that song was infectious and I kept hearing the beat of each opening phrase to the rhythm of each wave gliding underneath my boogie board. It wasn't until I kept my ear to the radio, to hear who did that song, that my love affair with music by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers began. 

Skip to my first Tom Petty concert where I heard Jackson Browne open, and I was so elated, I felt like I was on the best high for a week. I'd never paid any attention to a Browne song and I didn't know who he was, but he was incredible and this only added to the awesome factor of that concert. I then added Jackson Browne to my list of people to follow and I did just that when I went to a collaborative concert at The Greek Theater, nestled among pine trees, dry dirt and the night, I heard an entire array of American music; a span from blues and jazz to country and southern rock, to folk and rock 'n' roll, and the experience was beyond belief. This concert featured a singer by the name of Steve Earle and The Dukes and from there I was hooked. 

You see, I used these concerts beyond their immediate satisfaction. For each concert that I loved and that included a new singer, I invested time in following that singer until the next concert that added another talent to my roster of curiosity and admiration. 

In those days of high school something in me changed. I listened to the music differently. At first it was just a good song and a catchy melody. But as I got older, I started to really listen to the lyrics, the phrasing, the possible double entendres as so many good English words entail. And these songs and words started to MEAN something to me. They started to capture memory and feeling to the point that when I next heard that particular song, it brought back a memory so vivid that I felt I was living it again. 

To Be Continued....