Pauhla's story

Pauhla · 04-18-2011, 01:55 PM

Chapter 1
I think that if I were a real writer, I would be able to begin my life story using my own words. But since I’m not a real writer, I will begin my self-proclaimed epic with a quote by Leo Tolstoy:
“Music is the shorthand of emotion.”
It is almost perfect for what I want to say. Or at least I think it is. What I think Mr. Tolstoy meant was that our complex emotions can be made more simply understood by music. Honestly, I’m not sure if does really matter if that isn’t what he meant. That is my interpretation of the quote.
I had thought of starting with this quote:
“Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue”
That quote’s by Plato. But first of all, his name annoys me. I always think of “play-dough” when I hear his name, but that may be because I work in daycare. And then I think about the time one of the kids ate a whole big gob of play-dough, and threw up in these awesome colors all over the chair next to him. Of course, I had to clean it up. But secondly, even though the Plato quote sounds brilliant and beautiful and it has to do with music and our souls, and may indeed hold the essence of my story, the truth is, I’m really not sure what this guy was trying to say about music and souls.
So, let’s just say, for the sake of argument that we all agree with my take on the Tolstoy quote about music being another way, actually a better way, of conveying to others what we are feeling. All agreed? Okay, let’s just go with that. So. . .
Music has always meant a lot to me. Unlike the people in my life, I actually liked the way music plays with my emotions.
I remember my mother saying, “Pauhla was singing before she could talk.” She wasn’t bragging. It was her way of saying, here is yet another way that my child is odd. I loved to sing along with my musical toys, TV commercials, neighborhood dogs’ barking. Apparently this early attempt at expressing myself musically freaked my mother out.
As I got older, she complained about the pots and pans that were my instruments, the singing in the bathtub, and other ways I created music (noise!) in the house. So she enrolled me in the church choir.
I sang in the church choir for years. I have a choir voice. It blends well with others. I didn’t sing solos. I was never asked to. However, our strange but likeable choir director appreciated the fact that I could sing harmony, in different parts, in different keys. She would switch me from alto to soprano, and back again, whenever she felt there was a need for more voices in one section, or maybe just at her whim.
“Pauhla,” she would say in her bass sing-song voice, “I need you to sing alto for this song.”
“Now Pauhla, let’s have you sing soprano for the second part of that song.”
My parents were not members of the church. They very seldom attended. I remember my mom being there maybe three times and my step-father maybe once. But it was a great place for them to send me. I had always had trouble fitting in with others, but here, I blended. I felt needed. I actually felt comfortable. And how can you not appreciate how heart-felt singing for the love of God is. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t feel it completely: the heart, soul and mind devotion to the higher being, but I certain did appreciate it.

Mr November · 04-18-2011, 02:38 PM

It seemed like stream of consciousness? It was good, but hard to read because it was such a wall of text.

And I agree that the Tolstoy quote is a good one.

~~The Virgin~~ · 06-16-2011, 07:34 AM

wow. what a fantastic writing ability. hope to read some more from you. keep up the good work!

Ghost · 06-17-2011, 09:59 PM

Nice work so far, Pauhla. You've got some interesting ideas and also it seeks a natural talent for writing. Your style is very relatable in a sense that it's kind of like your right here, talking to me. Are you planning this to be a sort of memoir, or what? Where are you going with this? I noticed the "Chapter 1" at the top of the page, and also the fact that you ended the piece a bit abruptly, so I dunno. You may want to work on developing and concluding your thoughts neatly so that your work doesn't seem like just a couple of paragraphs of ideas. Other than that, yeah, I'd say you're doing pretty well. Keep it up.

04-18-2011, 01:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pauhla Groupie Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 4	Pauhla's story Chapter 1 I think that if I were a real writer, I would be able to begin my life story using my own words. But since I’m not a real writer, I will begin my self-proclaimed epic with a quote by Leo Tolstoy: “Music is the shorthand of emotion.” It is almost perfect for what I want to say. Or at least I think it is. What I think Mr. Tolstoy meant was that our complex emotions can be made more simply understood by music. Honestly, I’m not sure if does really matter if that isn’t what he meant. That is my interpretation of the quote. I had thought of starting with this quote: “Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue” That quote’s by Plato. But first of all, his name annoys me. I always think of “play-dough” when I hear his name, but that may be because I work in daycare. And then I think about the time one of the kids ate a whole big gob of play-dough, and threw up in these awesome colors all over the chair next to him. Of course, I had to clean it up. But secondly, even though the Plato quote sounds brilliant and beautiful and it has to do with music and our souls, and may indeed hold the essence of my story, the truth is, I’m really not sure what this guy was trying to say about music and souls. So, let’s just say, for the sake of argument that we all agree with my take on the Tolstoy quote about music being another way, actually a better way, of conveying to others what we are feeling. All agreed? Okay, let’s just go with that. So. . . Music has always meant a lot to me. Unlike the people in my life, I actually liked the way music plays with my emotions. I remember my mother saying, “Pauhla was singing before she could talk.” She wasn’t bragging. It was her way of saying, here is yet another way that my child is odd. I loved to sing along with my musical toys, TV commercials, neighborhood dogs’ barking. Apparently this early attempt at expressing myself musically freaked my mother out. As I got older, she complained about the pots and pans that were my instruments, the singing in the bathtub, and other ways I created music (noise!) in the house. So she enrolled me in the church choir. I sang in the church choir for years. I have a choir voice. It blends well with others. I didn’t sing solos. I was never asked to. However, our strange but likeable choir director appreciated the fact that I could sing harmony, in different parts, in different keys. She would switch me from alto to soprano, and back again, whenever she felt there was a need for more voices in one section, or maybe just at her whim. “Pauhla,” she would say in her bass sing-song voice, “I need you to sing alto for this song.” “Now Pauhla, let’s have you sing soprano for the second part of that song.” My parents were not members of the church. They very seldom attended. I remember my mom being there maybe three times and my step-father maybe once. But it was a great place for them to send me. I had always had trouble fitting in with others, but here, I blended. I felt needed. I actually felt comfortable. And how can you not appreciate how heart-felt singing for the love of God is. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t feel it completely: the heart, soul and mind devotion to the higher being, but I certain did appreciate it.

04-18-2011, 02:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mr November Music Addict Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Halifax, Canada Posts: 429	It seemed like stream of consciousness? It was good, but hard to read because it was such a wall of text. And I agree that the Tolstoy quote is a good one.

06-16-2011, 07:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
~~The Virgin~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cebu, Philippines Posts: 677	wow. what a fantastic writing ability. hope to read some more from you. keep up the good work!

06-17-2011, 09:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ghost Groupie Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Where am I? Posts: 29	Nice work so far, Pauhla. You've got some interesting ideas and also it seeks a natural talent for writing. Your style is very relatable in a sense that it's kind of like your right here, talking to me. Are you planning this to be a sort of memoir, or what? Where are you going with this? I noticed the "Chapter 1" at the top of the page, and also the fact that you ended the piece a bit abruptly, so I dunno. You may want to work on developing and concluding your thoughts neatly so that your work doesn't seem like just a couple of paragraphs of ideas. Other than that, yeah, I'd say you're doing pretty well. Keep it up.