What’s in a Word? – BEGIN.

So, Let’s BEGIN. !!!

by SharonG 

by Canadian Archie

Hi FanScene Readers!!

Have you ever given much serious thought to what the word “begin” actually means…??? I must admit that up until now, I really hadn’t and I certainly didn’t see much of a need to…but, as with so many things in my life that have changed because along came David, inspired by the title of his new CD, “BEGIN.”, I decided to look at this short, but, ever so meaningful five letter word a bit more closely…

Because when I write I always keep a dictionary close by, I immediately went to my Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for a precise definition of the word “begin”, and that dictionary described the word as meaning to commence, start, initiate, usher in, inaugurate…and going a bit further – to take the first step in a course, process or operation. Now, having explored the definition of the word “begin”, and, in terms of music – I decided to explore song titles with the word “begin” within them and then songs that came to mind with the words begin, begun or beginning within them…A song that came to mind immediately is one from my mom’s generation that I remembered called “Begin the Beguine”…when I heard that song played when I was a child (and not really paying much attention lol), I really had no idea what it meant at all, and so, with this post in mind, and upon further exploration, I learned that the beguine is a ballroom dance that originated in the West Indies…so I have to assume that when we begin the beguine, we start to dance this dance lol!!
Fast forward to 1970 and my college days when the movie “Love Story” was all the rage and it’s theme song contained these words: “where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can be…” so, there’s that word “begin” again!! And, then the song “Beginnings” from Chicago’s album “The Chicago Transit Authority” which said “only the beginning…of what I want to feel forever…only the beginning, only just the start…” With The Carpenter’s came the song “We’ve Only Just Begun” – a song often played at weddings, as I recall…and much more recently the words “Begin Again” seem to be a popular expression in music as exemplified by Shinedown’s “Begin Again” with the words “welcome friends to seconds lost, and to starts that won’t begin…” and “Begin Again” with Colbie Caillat…”oh, this is not the way it should end…it’s the way it should begin again…”
And, as I googled and regoogled the word “begin”, something else popped up that caught my attention – that being Habit 2 of Stephen Covey’s book entitled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”… Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind…What did this all mean, I wondered and learned that if we looked closely at Habit 2,* we would be encouraged to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of the direction that we would wish to take and what our destination would be and, then, to make this happen…to begin with the end in mind is part of a process of personal leadership and taking control of our lives – connecting with our own uniqueness and defining the personal moral and ethical guidelines through which we can most happily express and fulfill ourselves…Obviously, I have summarized what is pretty heavy duty stuff to think about that’s for sure and when I began to think about why David chose the word BEGIN. as the title of his CD, it immediately all made sense and it occurred to me that David did begin a new adventure when off to South America he went…and he did take the opportunity to begin a mission in his effort to serve God, and, in that effort, I’m quite sure that he did begin to looker deeper within himself, and, as time passes, it would seem natural for David to begin to look at and to visualize what the future holds for him and what he would like to accomplish – what his destination will ultimately be as he moves forward with his life…

The songs on “Begin.” with which we are already familiar are truly quite thought provoking and soulful – much like David is…Were we surprised to learn that he’d chosen to record “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “Angel”, “True Colors” or “Be Still, My Soul”…not at all!! When David left for South America he began by pursuing a new role as Elder Archuleta, and, for us, with this new CD, it looks as though we might just see a David who is a bit more introspective, but, as always devoted, caring and loving…

We have all had the opportunity to begin any number of things in our lives…for many of us our “formal” education began as off to pre-school we went, or back in my day when pre-school wasn’t even a blip on the radar screen, off to kindergarten we went…Or, perhaps one of your fondest memories is of that day when you began dance classes or when you began playing t-ball…Or, much later, you might have begun those college classes that would eventually lead to the beginning of your career…or, maybe while at college you saw the beginning of a relationship with a special someone…Yes, and as we move forward with our lives, it is not unusual to begin to wonder about various choices that we’ve made because that’s just part of the process – part of life as we ask ourselves “did I do what was right for me?”…

Yes, it’s safe to say that although the word “begin” contains only five letters – those five letters are significant of something quite deep in message…for most of us, when we begin something – it usually signals the start of a new adventure – and, ironically, as I look back to when I began my petition drive to bring David to the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, I could hardly have imagined the wonderful adventure that I would experience in the process, yet I certainly knew that pure joy would be the end result!! And, now, after having concluded my little study of the word “begin”, my advice to all of you when you look at the word “Begin.” on the cover of David’s CD – look to your future – to who you are – to who you hope to be – to what you want and to making what you want to happen – happen!! And, so, let’s begin…and, here’s to all of the wonderful adventures that lay ahead of you!!

sharon g