A Reflection of Personal Identity

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Recommended: Expression of emotion through music

Looking in the mirror trying to form an assessment of who I am, and why requires introspection and a journey back through my life. I see that my love of music (mainly) and poetry were always encouraged by my family who supported creativity, and expression. I look at my reflection and see my strengths stemming directly from the relationships I hold close to my heart and treasure the support they provide in my life. My dad died right before my older brother came home from Vietnam in 1972. The loss I experienced in my world was indescribable, and my brother who is twelve years older than I stepped in to ease the pain. My passion for music was encouraged by my mother, but she was immersed in her own loss that she could hardly function. I lost months of memory, and some of my siblings joked and teased me because I live in me heart, not my head, but my oldest brother understood. He understood how much I loved my daddy, and that dad had always seen me as being the “sensitive one,” My brother continued to nurture the creative piece of my heart that loved music so very much. To bring me out of my shell I had crawled into, he would take me for walks in the woods, telling me stories and got me to sing with him the whole way. He shared with me the music he loved and helped me find comfort once again in what always had made me shine.

Even though the rest of my siblings teased me, they still called me their “buttercup” and mom always said that I was sunshine in her world. Even as a very young child I was always singing or humming and could find the bright side to everything, which is something I continue to do even now. Music is the voice in which I express emotion, and those around me can see it. I often wondered if sharing music wi...

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...tive force has been a lifeline for me throughout my life. In the garden of my life, everything grows there from the seeds of music, and flourishes with the water of laughter and joy. When I read Alice Walker’s assessment of her mother’s garden leading her to discover her own (675) it hit me more profoundly than the relentless obsession Rodriguez encountered with his educational pursuit. Until now I had not ever really looked at the importance music has had in my life, or what role it played. I just knew I never wanted to be without it. Music is as integral to my existence as breathing is to living; it is something I cannot live without it.

Works Cited

Rodriguez, Richard, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, Ways of Reading, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008 Print

Walker, Alice, The Achievement of Desire, Ways of Reading, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008 Print

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