Day 17 - My First Love

I watch a wide variety of television shows throughout the week. When I get home from work my boyfriend and I will make dinner then relax while watching a show or two from our DVR and spend some quality time together before heading off to bed. I have always enjoyed dramas such as CSI, Law & Order and Criminal Minds. I also love sitcoms like Big Bang Theory, King of Queens, Friends and Fraiser. Over the last few years I have been introduced to a couple reality style shows as well. Those are the ones I have come to really love because for me it isn't about the drama and chaos between the contestants on the shows but the passion they have for what they do.

My favorites are cooking shows like Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef. Last night I was relaxing while an episode of Masterchef Junior was on. I love watching the children because it is all about their food and their love for cooking. It is just so pure. As I watched the kids preparing dishes with techniques that I as an adult have never used, and in some cases never heard of, I studied their faces. They were focused, dedicated but most of all they were doing exactly what was in their hearts.

The episode had an elimination challenge themed on mothers. The young cooks were tasked to make a dish that was inspired by their moms and then present them to the judges. Like all reality shows the cooks were interviewed as they were going through making their meals. their eyes shone and their smiles could light up a room. The kids, ages 8-13, wake up and go through each and everyday heading toward every evening thinking of nothing but making food. In a way their pure love is inspirational.

It made me think about when I was in school and how much I loved to write short stories and poems to show to my own mother. There was a time when my passion was as simple and pure as theirs is when they cook. I had two things I loved that much, writing and dancing. I performed with a lightness and fire in my heart that I have only ever matched when I was writing. When the music would play I could feel it flowing through me and when I write I experience the same type of being fulfilled.

I have tried a number of hobbies and jobs in my life but it is incredible the way that the things we fell in love with as kids can hang on so strongly and reemerge later when we are ready to embrace them. When I danced I would use my body to tell a story with my body and movements to the music. Now I tell stories with my words and let etc rhythm and flow of my books carry both me and my readers away on adventures through my imagination. No matter what other paths I may follow or temporary distractions I let jump in front of me I will always find my way back to my writing, my first real love.