The Month of Thanks – October 11

Continuing on in my Month of Thanks, here is my letter for October 11th.

To Jamie Jordan,

There once was a little book. It wasn’t all that different from other books, but it was mine. It was written on a whim, because it was something I decided to finally try after years of saying “someday I will do this thing”.

This book was a year in the making. It was something foreign, something I wasn’t sure what to do with. Would anyone even like this thing? It very probably sucked. So, instead, I did a little singing in Second Life while I twiddled my thumbs and picked at the words on my screen.

You were the one keeping track of these musical interludes, herding the audience, reminding me that it was showtime in 15 minutes and could I not just pick a dress already? They’re just pixels on a screen, after all.

At some point, you learned I was using my voice to do other things, written things. And you said, “send me those words.”

Excited to share this little story of mine, I sent it your way, expecting nothing but maybe an amused thumbs up and an atta-boy for stringing together so many sentences in a relatively coherent way.

What I got instead was very surprising. In response to my story and my hemming and hawing about what I might maybe think about doing with it, you offered an alternative.

“Podcast,” you said.

That was late 2008.

What happened next was nothing short of world-changing for me, and you held my hand through every bit of it. Sound equipment? You need this. Cast? Listen to these people. Production? Let me do this for you.

What began as a tentative tale turned into an epic journey of finding my own literal voice and sharing it with the world. It crossed my path with amazing, talented people who willingly lent their voices and advice both to the audiobook podcast of The Dreamer’s Thread and my writing in general, becoming regular fixtures in my everyday life five years on.

I have the wonderful people I’ve found because of you; because you said “let me help you.”

I don’t know how to repay the kind of selfless act you preformed by simply opening a door for me. You gave me an opportunity to try. You gave me an outlet to explore a new phase of my life. You did this, and you have never asked for a single thing in return.

As often as I can, I try to bring up your name whenever that first little book is discussed. That’s not so often these days, as it happens with these things, and newer, more polished projects have taken its place at the head of the class.

Still, the way forward is lit by that first candle… that first person that said “this is something and I want to help you share it.”

That person is you.

And no matter how far this road leads me, there will always be that single light to remind me where I came from.

Thank you for holding the beacon high,

Starla Huchton

For more information on Jamie Jordan, click here.