How a Country Song Made Me a Writer

Have you ever seen the TV show, Leverage? It’s one of my favorites. I own all five seasons.

Here’s the gist of it:

It’s lighthearted and fun, with enjoyable characters. My favorite is the “hitter,” Eliot, played by Christian Kane. I didn’t realize until I watched the season-three episode, “The Studio Job,” that Christian is also a country singer. I fell in love with this song the moment I heard it:

I liked it so much I did a search to see if I could buy it. That’s when I discovered Christian Kane had an entire album. So, of course, I bought it. Turns out, that’s not the only song of his I like. There are several that I really enjoy.

That brings me to the title of this post. (Did you think I’d never get there? What can I say? We’re talkin’ country music here, so I moseyed to my point.)

When I got this CD, I was working at a job that involved, at minimum, a 40-minute commute. During that drive, I usually listened to the radio, listened to CDs, prayed, or talked on the phone (hands-free of course). As I mentioned in my snowstorm post, some days this commute was bearable. Others, it was not. Either way, it certainly gave me time to think.

I thought about the fact that I had been dreaming of being a writer since I was five. I thought about my hesitation to truly pursue my book ideas. I thought about my “some day” attitude that wasn’t ever going to make my dreams happen.

I liked my job, but I knew I really wanted more. I wanted to be done with commuting. I wanted to set my own hours. Be my own boss. Write.

But, how? Pursuing that dream sounded scary. Should I really go for it? Even with the resolve that the constant snowfall had created, I still had moments of uncertainty. I knew I didn’t want to do “this” anymore, but I didn’t know what “that” looked like, or how to get there.

It was in the midst of this turmoil that I heard what became my favorite song on the album. Here it is:

Did you catch that chorus?

I’ve been sittin’ on the fence for way too long

Warmin’ that bench as chance moves on

And believe me, that ain’t no way to live.

And this barely gettin’ by is really gettin’ old

And it’s hard to turn a wrench on a rusty bolt

But someday something’s gotta give

The lyrics poked me right when I needed to be moved along. In truth, they did more than poke. They reached right into my heart (like good songs do) and plucked a few cords. They were exactly what I needed to hear. They pushed me off that fence. Got me off the bench.

I knew it was time to make some changes. Go for the life I’d been dreaming of. It would be a lot of work, but then again, it’s hard to turn a wrench on a rusty bolt. As I listened to this song, I decided “Someday is today…and something’s gotta give.”