Soundtrack of my Life – Entry #14 – Don’t Rain on my Parade – Barbra Streisand

So, we are going way back with this one kids. This is a song that somehow, someway, found me when I was an adolescent and hit me in all of the “I will show you” feels at that tender time. I don’t recall ever seeing Funny Girl, although I would have to say that more than likely somewhere along the way I did. However, I do remember this song, pretty much word-for-word (after all these years), and can definitely remember the way it stirred my soul at the time. As a matter of fact, it still has the same impact today and makes me feel that I can do anything I set my mind to. This song also was the start of my lifelong love of everything Barbra Streisand, and let’s just say while we are unpacking this trunk that once upon a time, I knew every word to every song on the Yentl soundtrack. But, that my friends is yet another post.

The lyrics for Don’t Rain on my Parade resonate with me now more than ever, since in putting myself out there artistically I open myself up to the good and the bad that can come from it. The thing is, it used to cripple me, the comments from someone out in the void that didn’t connect with what I produced, or that didn’t have glowing things to say about it. But I know now that what I write isn’t for everyone (although I can’t imagine why, totally just kidding), and if I am being honest with myself the audience I write for is pretty much, well… she’s me. As scary as that might seem to some of you, I know there are plenty of folks out there who like the same things I do, that have the same ideas about things I do, and hell, maybe even act like I do…so sorry everyone, lol. Point is, I write what makes me happy and what I would want to read, and I know in my heart that one day it will find my squad.

With life-long learning, I have come to realize that you take what you need out of what you are being taught, and toss the rest. So the nuggets of wisdom from the less-than-stellar comments are filed away in a drawer in the back of my mind, safely locked away to be reviewed if I ever re-approach something that I thought I was done with. But, who knows if that day will ever come. As Fanny Brice says, “I gotta fly once, I gotta try once, Only can die once, right, sir?” My eyes are forward, and while that may mean that some of my earlier stuff is a little rough around the edges, it also means that in always moving forward I am only going to get better with time. You know the drill, we learn from our mistakes. And while I do want to learn, I also realize that life is short, so I have promised myself that there is not much looking back from now on.

We all march to the beat of our own drum and in doing so, should recognize that our differences are what make this world a unique and beautiful place. I know myself, and I know what I am capable of, and while it is never nice having faults pointed out, it can always be turned into a chance to learn something new about yourself. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send me comments, good, bad or indifferent. And for all you dreamers out there, don’t ever let anyone rain on your parade. ❤