Jessica McFarland

There is a writer named Julia Cameron whose books about creativity I wholeheartedly adore. I’m sure there will be more about her later, but in the mean time you can check her out here.

Something she wrote has lit a fire in me recently. That is, how important it is to finish things. Not just start things, but actually finish something so that it’s done (or at least, done-ish and stop working on it and move on).

I have never really considered myself a procrastinator, but when I (re)read this, I realised that I have a computer full of half-finished musical projects that I have not finished. This is possibly a result of an over-developed sense of perfectionism, with just a smidgen of laziness thrown in to keep it interesting.

So I’m spending the next few months or more finishing things. When they are done they’ll be here. And then I can move on, instead of whining inwardly about how I never get anything done and being plagued by a vague sense of incompetence.

Soooo, this is a song I started in January and have finally finished. It is an arrangement of a song for voice and the orchestra I keep in my bedroom.

(Lyrics below.)

The Mayfly

When she looks at the future
He only looks away
But her memory
Goes back to some time ago
When he used to smile, just so, whenever

Love can last for a season
Or only for a day
Like the mayfly
It awakens at first light
Then quickly dies in the night

She heard him say the word forever
(Nothing lasts forever so you’d best appreciate the time you have)
But can’t live long on only air
(That is just the way of things they always end no use in being sad)
So often beauty fades and happiness is ephemeral

Now she knows of her error
She never knew him well
Nothing more is left
Nothing of the end to tell
Merely an empty shell, oh…

As it floats away
Faintly there’s an echo heard
Of that most deceptive word

Forever….