Sometimes, we can
go through life on autopilot. That is to
say, we go through life without really considering the things we find important
and why it is we value them so much; we just take everything for granted. Recently, I have been thinking more about
this topic and have tried to get past the usual cliché answers such as, “Food,
because otherwise I would die.” Or, “My
computer, because I would die without
being able to connect with my friends online!”
The list goes on and on. Instead,
I went beyond the surface and looked a little deeper at other things that have
greatly affected my life and that I value.
Music, writing, and books are important to me because they have
helped me learn how to express myself.
Music has always been an important part of my
life, starting from when I was very young.
Mom is the pianist at our church, so there has always been music in the
background. Therefore, music has always
symbolized safety, security, and love.
When I was about five, I started my own journey with music – learning
how to play piano from my mom and singing my little heart out in Children’s
Choir. This later progressed to learning
guitar, writing my own music, and almost constantly listening to something whether it was the radio, my
iPod, or even my own head. I am never
without music. Through all the ups and
downs in life, music has always helped me speak without words, find words when
I had none, and reminded me that no matter what is going on, other’s have been
there too. I don’t need words when I can
pour my heart and soul into performing Chopin’s Nocturne in F minor, or Bach’s
D minor Invention. If I feel like I’m
going to explode either with sadness or happiness, I pull out my notebook and
write the first things that come to mind, then pull out my guitar and start
singing it. If I can’t find my own
words, I just turn on my iPod and let them flow over me, telling me that I’m
not the only one to feel like this.
When I was
younger, I hated writing with a burning passion. I loved to talk, but getting me to write a
paragraph was like trying to pull a tooth that isn’t all the way loose. Both are difficult and painful. However, once I discovered that writing was
really only putting my thoughts and words on paper, I was all over it;
particularly when it involved creative writing.
Storytelling was something I’d always loved, and now I could keep my
stories somewhere other than just in my head. Along the way, writing grew to be
more that just telling stories; I started telling my story. If I had a rough
day, I would pull out my journal and let all my feelings pour out onto the
page. Or, if it had been a particularly
good day, I would write it all down so I could remember it the next time I was
feeling down. Eventually my feelings
towards writing versus talking balanced out after going each direction – more
talking, less writing; less talking, more writing – and now I’m able to use
writing as a way of telling my story to the people I’m unable to talk to
face-to-face.
I’ve always been
what one might call a “book worm,” even when I was younger. Instead of playing video games as a kid, I
could be found curled up in a corner under a blanket with a book. Being sent outside to play meant that instead
of sneaking out a Nintendo DS, I was sneaking out a book to read once I’d
climbed out of sight in a tree. To my
dad’s dismay, I never particularly enjoyed “real literature” which I thought of
as old and boring but instead let myself be carried away by tales of knights in
shining armor, mysteries that only I could solve, and the occasional historical
novel. I reveled in the thought of being
able to escape to another world where I could be anyone I wanted and travel
anywhere I wanted. This carried over
into my life as I started growing up, decided what I wanted to do with my life,
and how I would choose to act. Reading
helped shape me into the person I am now – a girl who loves the thought of
adventure, dreams of her own knight in shining armor, and wants to change her
world. Maybe one day all those things
will happen.
All of these
things are important to me, even though they might not be things that one would
first think of as being valuable. They
have all affected my life in very important ways – helping me become who I am
today, helping me tell my story, and helping me express myself. There is one last thing I would like to point
out, however. While each of these are
very important to me, there is something else that I value even more. The most important thing in my life is my
relationships with my family and with my friends, and there is no way to sum
that up in one short essay.
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This is another essay I wrote for my English course - probably why it's better formulated than most other things I post on here!
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