I grew up a nomad… a vagabond… a traveler… moving all around the state of Louisiana and always having to adapt to new cultures. Whether north or south Louisiana, I always felt at home and like my feet were on sacred soil. I developed a sense of resilience because of it. Louisiana was gritty… grass roots… homegrown. I have always had a confidence deep within me. As a child I felt it and wasn’t quite sure where it came from, but I was grateful it made its home in me. Moving as I did as a kid, no place seemed unfamiliar and no one was a stranger… just friends whose first names I hadn’t learned.
I love the outdoors and was an avid tree climber as a kid. I can say… I’ve never met a tree I didn’t love. Something about wildflowers, birds, trees, clouds… wind in my hair that makes me feel alive. I even like the rain… I mean a little rain never hurt… in fact it reminds me that I am alive.
I have always had a bit of a risk taker in me. Not so much when it comes to bungee jumping and roller coasters, but more with my life… I am not afraid to say what I think… to feel what I feel and to be painfully present in the moment.
As a child, I didn’t sit still long enough to read. Not until I became a young adult did I realize the gift a book could be in my life. My first fall-in-love book was Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson followed by the equally engaging A Time to Kill by John Grisham. Now I always seem to be reading a book and sometimes more than one find their way into my heart at once. But I have always loved stories.
As a kid, movies were my biggest love and they have remained an inspiration to this day. Growing up in Louisiana, we had an after school movie show on TV called “Dialing For Dollars.” Each week a different set of movies would play and I fell in love with Tarzan, Dracula, Hitchcock, The Duke, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, classic movie musicals…. to name a few. I was transported to another world for two hours and I always hoped with anticipation that they would dial my phone number during the commercial break and make me a contest winner. I never got that phone call, but watching those movies… I felt like a winner.
I’ve been filled with music since my earliest memories. Music has been more than an inspiration… it is a part of where I came from… who I am… what I am drawn to and how I have found words when there were none. Since moving to the Nashville area, I have fallen in love with songwriting. I believe that it’s one of the purest forms of story telling there is. It has captured my heart like few expressions and has become one of my favorite past times.
I have always loved people… loved who people are… loved knowing stories people share and have lived through… loved laughing, crying, living the real stuff of life but not just living their stories but sharing mine as well. I love connecting with people. I love the human spirit and find it fascinating.
I love life. That may seem obvious, but there are things about life that are so wonderful and there is nothing else like it. Finding the joy in daily living…. soaking up all that is in each day… believing our best days are in front of us and we are so much more than our about me page.
I am mom, friend, wife, songwriter, storyteller, author, poet, faithful follower, singer, survivor, painter, dreamer, artist, lover of words and studier of wonder… and the list is still being composed.
I would love to say I make the most of every moment… I miss a lot of it, but I am trying to live in the abundance of life. I hope you are also…
all my love,
celia anne