Letters of a Changing Life: Letter One

Letter One:

Dear Mr. Harrison,

I have found your antics to be extremely inspiring, and your energy for writing is quite admirable. You encourage me, just by your actions, to do what I love and love what I do and not to settle for the things that keep me comfortable.

You challenge me, by your publications, to write--to stop making excuses, and write. You challenge me to write without the slightest concern for how others’ eyes might cast judgment upon my words, but to let those little expressions that float inside my head each day make their way into the mind of someone else. You say, “writing is a catharsis; an audience is a group of surgeons; your reading eyes, sharpened scalpels that though, cut into me, connects the severed tissues into some sense of coherent form,” and I believe it, and I thank you for reminding me.

I have found myself jealous at times of your carefree spirit. I find myself thinking, “I would very much like to teach Buddhist monks how to play air guitar too. I would; I really would!” And, I wonder, like a child, at the adventures you lead.

Now, I find myself at a place, a crossroads if you will, where I ask myself, “Why aren’t I teaching Buddhist monks to play air guitar?! What am I doing with all this life?”

And so, I want to thank you, Mr. Harrison, for living the way you do and writing the way you do, and inspiring others to do the same.

Your friend,

Kelly