I have always felt a since of urgency in life, but the alarm in my heart is ringing now more than ever. We couldn’t control where we were born, who were born to and the beginning of our story, but we can take control of the pen and write the ending.
Growing up on a farm and listening to country music radio went hand in hand for me as a child. Whenever I went for a drive I laid down in the back of our van and put my ear against the speaker to sing along to every song. I would dance around the house to a Garth Brooks cassette tape, my favorite song was “Ain’t Goin’ Down,” I went crazy when that song came on. I remember getting a karaoke machine for Christmas and thinking it was so cool to sing along to my Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks CD’s.
I believed I could be a singer like them someday, I loved singing in church and day dreaming about being a star. As I got older I lost faith in my voice, but I discovered a new talent of writing. When my pen hit the paper it was magic. All my feelings of love and farm life were conveyed in poems and stories. I didn’t want to just share my story, I wanted to share the stories of others.
This is how this blog came to life, I find deep satisfaction in writing the stories of how others pursue their dreams. I have learned we must fight for our dreams and work so hard. I have worked hard for my dad’s dream to farm and I am so proud of him, but we can’t be fully satisfied living a life others expect of us. Deep down we all have a passion, we all have a purpose and we must bring it to life in this short time we are alive.
Don’t reach the end of your life and realize you never really lived it. Bronnie Ware’s book, 5 Regrets of The Dying, will help you live without regret. If I continue to share the stories of musicians and make a difference in the lives of others by sharing their story and music in the world, I will be happy.
In “Unbroken Circle,” an original video series produced by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in support of the exhibition “American Currents” features Carly Pearce exploring the Museum and Historic RCA Studio B along with friends and collaborators, including Jeannie Seely, Emily Shackelton, and producer busbee. I love hearing her story and how everything changed for her with one song, “Every Little Thing”.
It is also undeniable how much we adore seeing her love story with husband Michael Ray. Against a photo backdrop of famous country couples at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, singer-songwriters Carly Pearce and Michael Ray offer stripped-down duets of songs they love: “Jackson,” a hit for Johnny Cash and June Carter; and “When You Say Nothing at All,” cut separately by two of the couple’s favorites, Keith Whitley and Alison Krauss.
We all have dreams and they are best shared with ones we love. There is only one you in the Universe. I will continue to live with urgency because there is no time to waste. Life won’t always go as planned, but I have faith every wrong turn could be leading me to something greater unknown. Watch the entire “Unbroken Circle” series on Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum YouTube.
Photo Credit: Carly Pearce social media & Emmy Jenkins
Farm Girl With Curls 