Soundtrack of life.
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 12:03PM I have noticed that the persona of motherhood that I have developed often times supersedes some of my other facets of personality. I am thinking there must be a way to develop a healthy relationship between all of the roles I play in this life. 
Tammy Ealom of Dressy Bessy
This month is National Blog Post Month, the goal--blog at least once a day for the month of November. I have participated in this frenzy for the last two years, and I must say, having record of a complete month in archive for possible reflection is pretty cool.The other day I was looking through my blog posts for this time last year for comparison purposes, where I was then/here I am now.This post made me grin from ear to ear: A Re-Introduction. That was the night of a Dressy Bessy, where I danced like no one was watching and Tammy Ealom told me she liked my dress, later that year she sent me two vintage dresses because she used some photos Josh took of the show.
This post, a rummage through our c.d. folders today, and the fact that Josh and I are going to see Todd Snider perform on Saturday has made me remember how big of a deal music is in my life. Music is also a major part of Josh's life, as he has been working as a promoter for as long as we've been together.
I used to experience this part of our lifestyle on a much deeper level than I am able to now. I used to attend just about every show Josh put on, and often times after the shows we would have a living room floor full of sleeping musicians, who we had probably eaten, drank, and been merry with after their sets.
When I was getting my drinking under control I stopped attending so frequently, sometimes the environment was just too difficult to be a part of sober. I attended quite a few shows pregnant with Arlo, he has patches from some of the ones he was a part of, and consequently absolutely loves music-- sometimes putting on something, dancing, and singing with him is the only thing that will soothe him.
Josh has been booking at a new venue since we moved to Columbia and it is not a smoke free environment, so even though there were some amazing acts playing I was unable to attend them during pregnancy. Josh and I have talked about the desire to take Arlo to shows with us, with noise cancelling muffs of course, we have yet to have the opportunity though because all of the shows that Josh has booked have been at the aforementioned venue. So, I haven't been able to interact with that more playful part of my persona in awhile.
This month of writing I would like to explore some of facets of my personality outside of "mother." Then I would like to learn how to more wholly incorporating them into my mothering, because Arlo really deserves a well rounded mama!
As I mentioned before, I rummaged through Josh and I c.d. folders and pulled out music that reminded me of a story. For part of this month I am going to relay those stories in writing. Here is a list of the c.d.'s I pulled:
- Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American
- The Elizabethtown Soundtrack
- 13 & God, Self-Titled
- Jeffrey and Jack Lewis, City and Eastern Songs
- Blindside, About a Burning Fire
I would like to listen to these albums and do some stream of consciousness writing regarding their history in my life. Stay tuned!
Reader Comments (2)
I love that JEW album. I remember when 9/11 happened and they decided to re-title it as self-titled. I hadn't bought the CD yet but I wanted to. Next time I was at the record store, I saw a copy that still said "Bleed American" on it, so I bought it thinking I was lucky. ;)
Hey, Maggie Ann ~
I hope you did indeed get to see Todd - would love a review!
Also, if you feel comfortable e-mailing me (ozwoman321@aol.com) with your snail-mail address, I'd love to send you a mix CD I give to friends with new babies (since you and I initially crossed paths because of the music... :-)