“Very cool,” I commented. It was also cool
to learn that
Drive earned Alan Jackson the Country Music Association’s album of the year
award in 2002.
“What was the name of the song you pitched?” I asked.
“Slipped and Fell In Love by John Wiggins &
Harley Allen.”
For a girl who’s trying to make it in the music
industry, you seem pretty successful to me,
I concluded as I glanced at another wall in her office to see a photo of Dottie
standing beside Garth Brooks.
Is it possible to spend so much time trying to achieve
a dream that we fail to recognize when we are living it?
I was wondering this three days later when our tour guide took us to see where she worked at the Country
Music Hall of FameŽ. From the minute we arrived, I could tell that my friend
had a reverence for this museum that I could not duplicate. My mother’s love of
country music had not transferred to me like Dottie’s father’s had to her, and
our differences were apparent as I strolled from one exhibit to another while
Dottie lingered behind.
How can she be so interested in what's on display when
she's been here dozens of times? I
asked myself as I wandered on to where
Elvis Presley's “Solid Gold” Cadillac was located.
On page 98 of his book Perfectly Yourself: 9
Lessons For Enduring Happiness, author Matthew Kelly offers
this explanation: “When we are exercising our talents and abilities in a role that we
are passionate about, we experience timelessness.”
“When I get done speaking to an audience for an hour,”
Kelly continued, “it seems as if it were just five minutes. I sit down in my
study to write, and the next thing I know, three hours have passed, but to me it
feels like I just sat down fifteen minutes earlier.”
What would life be like if we all experienced this
timelessness? If we all stopped trying to be famous and just focused on being
the person God created us to be? These unanswered questions followed me into the Hall Of
Fame Rotunda where 101 bronze plaques hung at various heights on the circular
wall.
“Do you know any of the people who were inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame?” I asked as we made our way around the
room.
“Three of the men from this group sang backup for
two
of my songs,” Dottie said as she pointed to a plaque with 'The Jordanaires'
printed on it.
I would later read on
wikepedia.org that the “Jordanaires have
been one of country music's premier backup vocal groups, working with artists
such as Patsy Cline, . . . Kenny Rogers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dolly Parton, . .
. and George Jones.”
I would also learn that they “are best
known across the world as the backup vocalists for a number of Elvis Presley's
hit singles, with whom they performed for more than fifteen years and backed up
on well over 100 different songs.”
For now, it was enough to marvel that three people
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame could be heard singing backup on my
friend's CD.
“Who else do you know?” I asked, eager to hear more.
“I met her husband through the Recording Academy
that handles the GRAMMY Awards,” Dottie said when we
neared the plaque honoring Patsy Cline.
A short while later,
I came across a name that Dottie had mentioned in previous conversations.
“Isn’t Sam Phillips the record producer
whose family you worked for
after you first moved to Nashville?” I asked as we stopped near his plaque.
Dottie nodded.
“What is Sam known for?” I probed.
“Although he first made his mark (and a very deep one)
with electric blues by Black performers,” Dottie answered, “he will be most
remembered for his rockabilly star Elvis Presley.”
“Did you get to meet any famous people while
working for his family?” I asked.
“Meeting musicians that played for Elvis was amazing,”
Dottie replied. “I also rode in the limo with Sam Phillip’s family when they
went to the world premiere of his A & E biography, Sam Phillips: The Man Who
Invented Rock 'N' Roll. ”
The thought of someone I know walking the red carpet
at a movie premier made me realize that what needed to change before I would see
Dottie succeed was, not her circumstances, but my perspective. For years I
asked Dottie how her CD was coming along,
thinking that was what would make her a success in the country music industry. Now, after
hearing about all the people she's worked with, I
was singing to a different tune.
Dottie was living her dream by doing what she loves on
a daily basis. How many of us can claim the same degree of fame? For those who
want to try, Matthew Kelly offers readers this
advice: “Find something that
you consider worthy of your talent and character, and give yourself to it.”[i]
“The best way to prepare for the future”,
Kelly explains, “is
to make the right decision now.
Will you make the wrong choice sometimes?
Sure. We all do. But most of the time, if we take a gut
check—pause to listen to the quiet voice within us—we are going to get it
right.”[ii]
It was
this quiet voice that provided an answer to the
question Dottie asked three days
earlier at the Wildhorse
Saloon.
“If she can’t make it in this business, how can I?” my
friend had asked after the college student
finished singing on stage.
You already have, the voice whispered as I followed Dottie out of the
building. You already have.
We don’t
choose a mission; we are sent on
one.[iii]
The bible makes this clear in
Jeremiah
29:11 where we read:
“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future …”
While pursuing a future that
is music to God's ears, let us never forget that
more important than being famous, is being ourselves
as we build upon the past (our own, not someone else’s), appreciate the present
and commit to a life filled
with passion, instead of regret.
Happy New Year.
Quotes
to Grow On
