The Big Idea: The Inspiration Behind Moonbeams and Rhyme Dreams, Part 1

It all started with a dream. Really.

Hello, readers! I'd love to take a step back and introduce myself and my personal story.

Palette knife acrylic painting, 2015

Growing up, I was fortunate to have a mom who read bedtime stories to me and my siblings every night.  Dr. Seuss’s “One Fish, Two Fish…” and “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” were among my favorites.  The whimsical rhymes and imaginative art were captivating, and some of the poems would stay stuck in my head for weeks.  I recall taking the books off the shelf during the day just to stare at the details in the illustrations.   I’d let my imagination immerse me in these Seussian worlds, and I’d daydream about what it’d be like to visit them.

I’ve always loved creating art and music.  I started drawing at an early age and my parents recognized that I had some artistic ability, so they encouraged me to draw and paint. Similarly with music, I picked up playing the piano (a Yamaha keyboard, to be specific) when I was young.  I could hear a song on tv or the radio and could play it back on my keyboard. I had an ear for pattern and rhythm. 

My first keyboard, Christmas 1988

As far back as I can remember, I’ve felt what I’d describe as a creative humming, or energetic undercurrent, buzzing in the background of my brain all the time.  It feels like a creative stream that’s always flowing, waiting to spill out.  Sometimes, that creative itch is so strong that I can't ignore it, and the only way to scratch it is to create something.

Tapping into that creativity and making something without any sort of goals or expectations is fun. I can easily get lose myself for hours. But in general, I struggled with focus and attention.  In school and out of school.  when I have to apply that creativity with a purpose, it's extremely difficult.  

My parents put me in drawing lessons and piano lessons. I think we all thought it would help to hone my skills. I liked playing, and I liked drawing – at least, I liked the creative parts.  But I didn’t like practicing or studying.  It was too boring, confining, no fun.

I wanted the end result of practicing, but it always felt like by brain and body were fighting against me. I dropped out of both.

I also had trouble paying attention in class.  I had an especially difficult time with homework.  Sitting and focusing was almost impossible for me. I was always listening, even though I doodled nonstop all day.  

I knew I was a little different than a lot of my peers. High energy. Low focus. High creativity. Low attention span. I had trouble making new friends. I had trouble starting new things or finishing things. I was never too upset about any of it; I was a happy kid. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found out I had ADHD.

Reading was also really hard for me. I loved books with short stories and fun pictures, but as we started moving away from picture books and into chapter books, I really struggled. I would usually skip to the end.

B&W still-life study, age 9

I remember the day in my 3^rd grade class, when a student’s mother read poems from Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.  

It was a gamechanger.

It had everything I loved about Dr Seuss – the short silly stories, musical bounce, and the imaginative stories and illustrations, but with more depth, humor, and cleverness.   This bok had these juicy little nuggets of poems and illustrations combined in a way I had never experienced before.   I remember checking the book out of the library for weeks, reading it everywhere – while eating breakfast, while on the bus, at the lunch table, in my bed… until I was able to get it for my birthday.   These poems were everything I needed at that time:  I could dip in and out, read a short story for a minute or two, get a satisfying ending, and go do something else if I wanted to. 

I continued to read that book and other Shel books for years, but they turned me from a reluctant reader to an interested reader.  I was hooked, and books slowly began to pull me in.  From Shel, I discovered Roald Dahl’s books and they kept me going.  I found RL Stine’s Goosebumps series, and continued reading.  Before long, I graduated to the Lord of the Rings books and I never stopped reading. 

Acrylic painting, kindergarten, age 5

Into my adult life, I continued drawing and making music for fun whenever I got a creative itch, but it didn't go anywhere beyond creating for myself or people immediately around me.  Somewhat ironically, I found professional success as a project manager.  It had been 20 years since I had last read anything by Shel.  My wife and I had two young children, and we had been reading some of my favorite Dr. Seuss books to them at bedtime.  Already fatigued from raising a family, we had RSV through the household, and I woke up one night, totally exhausted from a fever dream…

And this is where the Rhyme Dreams story begins…