May Peace Rest Upon You

You are reading my blog, hopefully, you have also read my book, and now we find ourselves together at this year's end. This past year has been full of personal accomplishments and growth. And, as growing pains go, they were accompanied with possibly the appropriate amount of hardships.

This time last year, I was suffering through the editing of Telling Hands. It was a very hard time for me, as a writer, I could see many different roads to take the story down. I sometimes think about how I might write it differently if I were to write the same story today. As we grow, and change, our perspective changes with us, so it might automatically have some differences.

When I finally had combed over the unpublished manuscript enough times to almost drive myself crazy, I had to work up the strength to put it out there. That was hard.

Then, waiting while people read my first book, a sponge that I became water and poured myself into, was equally as challenging. To create art of any form, I believe you have to lose the fear of being wrong. So, I tried to lose the fear and stop limiting myself just for the sake of limiting myself. Hard.

As I look back now with my 20/20 vision, I can see where I could've done a few things differently in the liberating of myself of my first 32 years. But, I am thankful for the lessons it has brought me. Everyday is a learning experience, and everyday I am thankful for being on God's earth. I am thankful for my family, and friends; you.

As you may know, I have bought a gas-station. I am giving it a slash and making it a gas-station/bait shop. I had never been a business woman really, but I do admire them. True to form, I jumped in head long and have been learning the many lessons only owning a small business can teach you, as I go. That has been fulfilling work, because of the support I have been given.

Also, I was included in the filming of a movie. That was very exciting for me. To quote the short description on their facebook page, Woodlawn is:

A film based on an inspiring real-life story about love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s.

That was the perfect film for me to support, a film about Alabama, Alabama football, love, and unity, so I am thankful for the opportunity to be involved. My little role didn't have any lines, but when you watch the big scenes at the game located at Legion Field, you may see me. And, some of the prom scenes will likely have a familiar chaperone in a blue-ish dress. So, that's awesome.

And now, to turn and look at the upcoming year in 2015, I can say that I hope it is less hard, but I predict now it will be full of changes. I am hammering out the details of my new book, and given that it is my second, it should be easier. The store I have bought is ready to start the process of making it pretty, which will be fun. If I get the chance to be in another movie, I will take it. That was all really amazing.

I may or may not continue to write poetry. I don't have much use for it. I did enjoy painting very much though, and I will continue that. I will write more books, and have ideas of writing ones that will be less intense that my first two have been. Thank God.

I hope to do some travelling at some point in the next year or two. As a memoir writer, I find the "Eat, Pray, Love" story interesting. I would like to do my own version of travelling the world. Of course, I have different places picked out, and I hope not to ever write about it. I have done enough of writing about my life. :)

If in this growth, I have neglected anyone's friendship, I hope they will please forgive me. I have been somewhat of a mess this year. My family and I had to say good bye to my grandmother, Darris. And, I still have all the everyday challenges like sickness and laundry. It has taken up much of my time and this growth has spread me a little thin.

Let us always focus on the positive, and be courageous for the new year. May peace find you, and rest upon you in this season. Pick the greeting you want... Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays.


Jamie Godwin Brooks

I Was Lost, Now I'm Found

If you know me personally, or if you read my book, Telling Hands, you are aware of the near fatal car accident I was in when I was a teenager.  If you haven't read it, go ahead and do yourself a favor and get a copy. In the last chapter, I say:

"I have learned many things about myself now that I am thirty-two, marking the sixteenth anniversary of my near-fatal car accident when I was just sixteen."

That day was actually a couple weeks ago, on Thanksgiving Day of this year. Driving the same route, to eat the same Thanksgiving Dinner with my family, crossing the same Fateful Crossroads, I looked more than twice at the intersection.

I informed my friends on facebook that I had arrived at my Grandmother's house this year. It felt good, and the meal was as delicious as it ever has been. We managed to get by without any drama, which is always a plus when you go home to see family.

A couple days later, I received an email. It was from someone that had heard of my book, and was surprised to see that I was alive. His last memory of me was lying in a pool of my own blood, just moments after the wreck. After catching up a little, he sent me his account of the event. I sobbed as I read his words. He gave me permission to share them with you.

"For some reason that is a bad location, and there are wrecks there all the time. I remember I was going back into the store from pumping gas (we had to pump gas for people back then) and I heard the tire and the loud boom. I turned around and the second I saw the little grey Pontiac Sunfire I knew right then it was you. I ran out as fast as I could and there were screeching tires and cars everywhere. As I got to your car you were in the floor board of the car with blood everywhere. For some reason I remember seeing a grey Fyffe hoodie in the car as well. I thought you were dead. I tried to open the car door and it wouldn't open. Then someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back and I took one last look at you and then the car was swarmed with people. I stayed back because I can't handle seeing that, especially someone I knew. The police and ambulance got there and made everyone stay back. I tried forever to find out what I could about you but no one knew anything. I left that job and have never forgotten the sight of you in that car that day. Like I said I apologize if this freaks you out."

This old friend of mine, whom, due the accident, I can only barely remember, thought I was dead. For sixteen years, he had this image of me in his head. I was lost. Lost to myself, and most certainly lost to him. In the writing of the story, I found myself, and in the sharing of it, he found me. We will, without a doubt, stay in touch this time.

I was lost, but now I am found.

Jamie Godwin Brooks
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRVTJ9K

Fateful Crossroads

Beautiful Scars

Lets talk about scars.

Scars are usually considered ugly. You become self-conscious about it, and want to cover it up. You sometimes wish it would go away.

But the scars are proof of life. Living life is beautiful; don't ever hide your scars.

Whether they are on our body, like the scar on my forehead I got when the little wagon I was riding in turned over, and I hit a rock in my cousin's driveway...

Or the scars on our hearts.

In my book, "Telling Hands," I talk about the struggles of life and how they can leave their mark on you. I say that my heart is as "scarred as the Alabama terrain." If you've driven down the roads in Alabama you understand. You can see where tornadoes have left their mark in the trees that have been chopped off or blown down.

Our scars, in part, make us who we are, they show that we can get knocked down, we can get hurt, and most of all WE CAN HEAL.

Be proud of your life, be proud of your scars. They stay with you, like the lessons in life. You heal and learn and move on.

 

~Jamie

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRVTJ9K

This is a selfie I took the other day. The point of the Instagram was that the sun was right in my eyes... but the first thing I saw when I looked at the pic was the scar on my forehead.

 

Feeling Alive in this Hella Crazy World

Hey. This morning, as I was singing a song I had just made up about chocolate, I remembered another song I made up this past Saturday about being a short girl. I had never given much thought into to how often I make up songs. I think it's pretty often. When I was just a child, playing with my cousins, we would make up songs and perform them to our rather large family.. I can't help myself. I just have to create.

It makes me feel alive.

I draw sometimes, even though I am not very good at it. I can't really sing, but that doesn't stop me. I had never even tried painting before, but last week I painted my first portrait. I loved it so much, I had to write a poem to accompany it.

I noticed that I had an empty part on a wall in my creative space that needs a little more Jamie, so I proudly hung it up there.

My creative space used to be our formal dining room, but a couple years ago, I realized I do more creative, weird things than dine formally, so it I gave it a makeover. It is now filled with hundreds of books, pictures, drawings, notes, and odd objects, such as; a snake-skin, some bull horns, my homemade staff, a beaver-chewed tree limb, my fake glasses, a piece of stained glass from NOLA, decorative birds, things for burning...you know, things I like. I have some knives in here and my whet stone.

 I feel most at home when I surround myself with the weird things that inspire me.

I think there's also supposed to be some important documents hidden in here somewhere. I'm not sure...

I've always been this way, I don't think I'll change. When I finish the book I am working on, I'll write another, and when I finish the store I am working on, I'll do something else. Whether I win the poetry contest I recently entered or not, I'll write more poetry. If I totally fail singing karaoke for the first time on a date I have planned soon, I'll keep on singing.

If you have a true love, it will find an outlet. Mine is being creative, and it has to come out, sometimes in the most surprising of ways.

I love my brain. This has been a random thoughts about things moment, brought to you by:

Jamie Godwin Brooks

ps. I am on twitter @jgodwinbrooks, and instagram (link at top) and facebook https://www.facebook.com/JamieGodwinBrooks?pnref=lhc. Look me up. Let's share about our crazy lives in this hella crazy world.

Dirty Manual Labor

I recently bought the only, long vacant store in my hometown. It is a small 'mom and pop' kind of store. It happens to be the only gas station around for miles, and is situated close to a State Park. I have big plans and a low overhead. The property is in decent shape, but does require some work to get everything in running order. I have just spent a few days immersing myself in dirty, manual labor demolishing the old image and rebuilding a new one.

My name, "Jamie" does mean supplanter. So, it shouldn't come as a shock that I find making an idea a reality, and working hard to further a vision to be one of my life passions. Supplanter means to 'take the place of.' Well, the whole definition according to Dictionary.com is "to take the place of, often by trickery or force." That last part is humorous, but I didn't use any trickery or force. As a writer and author, I love words. I love their meaning, I love giving them new meanings and using them in unpredictable ways. Words have power; power to inspire, enlighten, harm, or destroy. I don't know how my parents so aptly named me Jamie, but it fits.

There are a lot of cool things about owning your own business, and with this piece of property, there are many options available. Owning a piece of my hometown will keep me grounded and close to my roots, no matter where my wings take me. As any southerner can tell you, it's important not to get above your raising.

This store, in particular, will revitalize the whole community, and it is exhilarating to be able to give something back to my hometown. I can't exaggerate the amount of positive feedback and encouragement I have been given. Likewise, I can't exaggerate how much I appreciate all the support.

Most people understand, but there's always a few that doesn't. It doesn't matter, I remember back when I knew it all too. Bless their hearts... In the words of Maw, "They'll learn though, won't they?"

To say it like a supplanter and self-described non-conformist; give the doubters a chance, love them anyway, but you don't have to listen to them. You are in charge of your own life.


~Jamie

Behind the Keyboard

So, I'm sitting here thinking about the fresh fish tacos I just ate and thought it was time to let you in on a little 'behind the keyboard' action to my writing. In my book, "Telling Hands" I tell the story of my life and through living it, I can tell you I didn't always have the answers; I still don't.

It is true that I couldn't remember some details, or experiences that happened to me. And the storyteller of the book reflects that. Recalling things, and piecing together moments to complete a picture is challenging and can be sometimes messy. I felt it to be insincere to the character Jamie to have her act as if she could easily recall and relay such information, given the fact that she is a reticent character, whom felt lost and broken throughout much of the story. Trying to stay true to her voice, the beginning of the book is more whimsical and nostalgic, then mid-ways through, as Jamie is growing up, the tone becomes more serious. The book lets you in on some of Jamie's thoughts and reasoning, displaying the characteristics of an introvert and ends with a culmination of being overwhelmed and empowered by self-realization and acceptance.

There are many topics that I chose to touch on, and not explore completely as I felt they would distract from the internal struggle that Jamie details. I recommend reading the book when you have time to think about it and truly absorb the words. I like reading books best that make me think about things afterwards, like who we really are, why we are that way, or other great questions about life.

 

If you actually read this, you deserve my thanks. If you read it and understood it, you win. You are the best person to ever walk the earth.

I’ll give you a hint about my next book, it’s a story that involves facing the problems of the world. That’s all for now…

 

~JGB

A Bird Sitting on a Tree is Never Afraid

I'd like my first blog post to be one of courage and inspiration. I know, everybody has a blog, and what can I have to say that you haven't already heard. Well, for me, as a writer, and all-around weirdo, I think maybe something.

If you've read my book, "Telling Hands," you may have noticed the usage of birds in my writing and images. I love birds, I love a lot of things, but birds in particular.

With the latest book promotion I have engaged in, (you can download the Kindle version for free this weekend) I have been very excited about reaching so many across the globe and have refused to let myself get nervous or afraid about it. I know, not everyone will like it.. there will probably be some that won't. There is not a single thing on Earth that every person likes, so I'm okay with that.

The internet loves quotes and sayings as much as I do, and there is this one that I have found lately that has meant something to me.

"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not in the branch, but in her own wings."

At the end of my book, I included an image of a bluebird flying. As I am growing in my writing career, I can see how accurate of a portrayal that actually is. I am now writing my second book, and still promoting my first. My trust can't be rested on the branch, but in my God given ability to fly.

Moral of the story; believe in yourself, whatever you are trying to do. Inspiration is hard to come by sometimes, so let this inspire you. That is my hope today.

Telling Hands free download at this link. Literally hundreds are reading the story based on my life, probably right now, and I'm okay with it.


~Jamie