The Power of Three Words - episode 125
Melissa Bollea Rowe is our final Insta Summer 2 partner for this series. Melissa is about many things and wants to share them out of a place of goodwill. She is first and foremost a songwriter. Next she went through some tough times that brought her to three words that she practices every day: God, gratitude and giving. It changed her life. (She even wrote a book about it.)
I think it’s fascinating Melissa continues to parlay her passions into many different avenues like writing a book, with a second project coming soon, and writing the score for a movie that will hopefully help a lot of kids learn. Plus she understands the value of time, how precious it is, and how sharing it with someone else really is the ultimate gift. Who will you give to today?
Creative. Passionate. Ambitious.
— Melissa Bollea Rowe
Enjoy the Ride
Thoughts from The Power of Three Words
I appreciate hearing people follow their passion, even making a sustainable career out it. Melissa has certainly done that as a songwriter for the past 15 years, starting a company, making the most out of opportunities. I think like a lot of things, it is likely all harder than it seems, and I’m guessing not everyone has that gift. Hearing she started as a young girl got me thinking.
Like many young women who experienced heartbreak on a regular basis, I put pen to paper to help rid myself of the pain. It was all very dramatic as young girls tend to be. Would I ever find love again, I wondered. Another technique I used was to listen to a particular song over and over and over again, crying all the while. Would I ever find love again, I wondered. I remember one time writing out some fierce, heartfelt words and recording myself saying them on tape with a slow, love song playing in the background for extra effect. Oh boy. This is the stuff that makes us who we are. There are many love songs out there, and even songs in general, that started with someone’s feelings that needed expressing. People can relate and that’s why songs become popular.
My friend Mark and I dabbled a bit back in the day, as I’ve written about previously in episode 50’s blog, And When I Say. I thought it would be fun to visit another song we wrote together, and no, I don’t remember the melody but it sounded similar to Eddie Rabbit’s I Love a Rainy Night. (Young ones will have to google him.)
The Road Song
The feel of the road
is lonely and cold
My travels take me far
to a time and a place
where my pain was erased
(Baby) Meet me there
Chorus
Hard times had fallen on me
in search of something you could not see
Love was not the question
though love was the answer
Why didn’t I know it then?
The ride is also long
or so it seems to me
My mind wanders as I drive
my memories of you
seem of long ago too
(Baby) Refresh my mind
The wisdom of the streets
was a hard lesson to learn
and I continue on
If my journey leads me to you
Please feel the way I do
Stay with me in time
Chorus
Hard times had fallen on me
in search of something you could not see
Love was not the question
though love was the answer
Why didn’t I know it then?
I really got a kick out of reading the poetry/lyrics I wrote many years ago. Sometimes I giggled at the drama, other times I felt sad to read each word and to feel her pain. It all came back. I see a young woman who is good at expressing herself, is a hopeless romantic who wants to be fully loved. I feel for her in many ways. I do. If I could, I would go back and tell her: enjoy the ride, it only gets better and better.
I’ve always used songwriting as a way to help me organize reality.
— Jason Mraz
Yes, that’s me back in the day, in-between heartbreaks.
