Take It Easy

Take It Easy by the Eagles memoir exercise

Song is my way of letting the universe know I am in the moment, alive and on fire. The song I recall expressing these feelings felt right at the time as my best friend, and I hoofed it along the back streets heading somewhere to meet someone and party.

She was telling me how not to drink too much wine when in a hot tub or it will all go to your head and puking wine is messier than normal booze puke.

The thrill of guys checking us out, coming back for a second look and ignoring them made me feel powerful, like I ruled the life of men. How could it be when in New York I was ugly, awkward and never had a steady boyfriend but here, a year later, in San Jose, California, I attracted guys like a butterfly to flame. Myla helped pave the way, she was a tall blond, attracting dudes even when she didn’t want the attention. Her annoyance at these times got me irked and sometimes made me laugh. I would think, is this how celebrities felt?

That night we sang the words to Take It Easy by the Eagles, harmonizing in a clumsy who-gives-a-shit attitude.

I would play a soft strum trying to master the major chords on my little six-string and carried the song more with my voice.

A few months later, while hanging out on the beach sitting around a bonfire, Myla handed me someone’s guitar and said I could sing and play. I was so high and a little drunk and declined to play but I sang and son got some of the other people to sing along. It was also when I realized Take It Easy would be a song I would recall as a title reflecting the part of my life bumming around the Bay area with my best friend.