 January 8 question
Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the January 8 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles!
January 8 question – Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?
That was a long time ago! I would say that most of the people I admired were my teachers. I had some great ones. They gave me the direction and guidance I needed to be successful in my studies.
But I lost track of all of them once I went away to college. Far away. Like 1500 miles away with only infrequent trips back home. So I didn’t keep in touch with any of them. (That was in the Dark Ages, before email or the internet.)
So, for this post, I’m going to talk about a celebrity I followed as a young adult. I was introduced to the music of John Denver after high school. In a way, his songs are what led me to move to Wyoming, where I met my husband.
It wasn’t until I was older that I delved into his life story. I was saddened at finding out how human he was. His cheating, possible abusive behavior, potential but unproven prescription drug misuse.
But his faults were softened by the good he accomplished. His work for the environment and ending hunger. Adopting two children.
So now, I am able again to appreciate his music. The quality of his voice, the depth of feeling he shares, the pure artistry of his singing. It was a journey through a spectrum of feelings to come full circle to admiration. Indeed, I often use his recordings as inspiration to write by.
 To check out other authors on this hop, please visit of a few of them in the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
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Childhood Heroes #IWSG
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John Denver was an inspiration to me too! Though I never looked into his life (and was surprised by some of his history here), his lyrics kept me dreaming of the future. My favorite line? “You fill up my senses . . . ” How wonderful that we can celebrate creativity in others and ourselves. A lovely post!
Thank you. I think my favorite line was from The Wings That Flu Us Home “I dreamed you knelt and touched me with a flower
I awoke with this: a flower in my hand”
The person I picked for today’s post has a few skeletons in his closet, too. It can be hard to separate the art from the artist in some cases, but we’re all human. Our lives are a mix of good and bad things.
It can be hard to separate the private person from the public persona
Like you, I eventually learned that musicians I admired were human and imperfect. While that impacted my admiration, it only changed it rather than diminish it.
It’s hard to separate their public persona with their private one.