Rediscovered Passions

I dream that someday I’ll finish my novels and become a published, world-renowned fiction author. But I keep tweaking that dream a little all the time, because at times I think I’d settle for just being published.
Or for just finishing a manuscript.

The one thing that’s consistent in my dream is my passion for writing, something that I love. 

I write for a living. As the only reporter in a small weekly newspaper, I spend a good portion of my day pounding out ideas on a keyboard, so you’d think that I’d be tired of writing when I got home at night, but that’s not the case. Writing fiction is one of the biggest thrills I get out of life. I'm currently going through some major rewrites and plot revisions on a manuscript that I’ve given the working title of "Spell Bound." This is my fourth draft of this story and things just aren't coming together as well as I'd like this time around. I often tell people that if the see me just standing on the street corner with a far-away look in my eye, please don't disturb me - I'm just in the world of my story, trying to figure out plot problems.

But writing the written word is not the only type of writing I’ve done; just this last week, I spent some time composing some music and was reminded of a misplaced passion.

I’ve composed music before, but it’s mostly been a simple melody or jingle. This piece is far more elaborate than anything I’ve ever attempted, although it’s still probably considered pretty simple by a professional pianist’s standards.

I studied piano for over 10 years before giving up weekly lessons when my schedule got too full to squeeze in daily practice. I still play for church now and then and play for my own leisure – but it’s not often enough for something I once loved. I’ve probably forgotten more than I ever learned. But I do remember a judge’s comments to me after a recital contest once. She said, “You’re very talented; you have the ability to make the piano sing.”

When I’d finished composing this song, I recorded it and played it back while I was lying in bed – over and over and over again – until I fell asleep. Behind my eyelids I was watching autumn leaves swirl and dance in the wind.

I’d rediscovered my passion for music; a fire was rekindled within me.

I’m not saying that I suddenly had the desire to give up my writing dream and go become a concert pianist, but I was reminded how much I miss something I’d forgotten about – the simple joy of a lovely melody.

I’m still doing a little tweaking to the piece and haven’t decided if I like the name yet, but the video below is what I’ve come up with so far; I wonder if I’ll ever be done tweaking…