by Charlotte Erickson
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Charlotte Erickson
Pub Date: April 22, 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Format:eBook
Source: Author
After one single reaching #2 on the Swedish Itunes-chart, 20,000+ followers on twitter, praise from media & blogs from all over the world & 4 critically acclaimed albums; she packed her life in a guitar case and spent a year homeless on the road, with nothing but a dream and a longing for something more.
This is the story about the girl who left everything she knew to dedicate her whole life to her art.
The story of The Glass Child, Charlotte Eriksson, is one of those you usually see on movies. Only 18 years old she left everything she had and knew in Gothenburg, Sweden, and moved to London to dedicate her whole life to her music and art. A vague dream about reaching out turned out to be an extraordinary fight for true and real art. A journey about self-discovery, learning solitude, the difference between having a home and feeling at home and how she finally found a home in herself, in her music, in her words. Charlotte spent a year homeless on the road, sleeping at friends’ and fans’ floors, learning and searching. An ordinary girl created a community of over 20,000 admiring fans online, and all alone with nothing but hard work and determination she managed to build a life on her art, being a true inspiration to so many people, showing that you can achieve and become exactly who you want to be, if you just want it bad enough. ”I wanted to turn my life into art. My very existence into a poem. This is my story - it’s been a beautiful fight. It still is.”
"Instant coffee and a tip from the sound-guy. I'm learning sounds, laying wide awake on different sofas every night. I know the difference between a well built wall and broken strength. I'm learning mindfulness, reading about gurus and poets every day on different trains to nowhere. I don't know what I'm learning but I hope I will understand one day. I'm selling my heart with each album and a silent prayer that they’ll be gentle with it, gentle with me. And then the concerned looks they throw when I point at my worn out bag and broken guitar case as the answer to where I live. Sure I could spend a year or two selling my days and time for money, and I could buy all these things people want to have without never really needing it. It's just that when I'm on that stage every night, it all just seems so stupid. My guitar, my voice, my words, my story. That's all I want, that's what makes my heart beat. What am I supposed to do with belongings and material stuff when all I want is this. The open road and a new beginning every day.
I don't have a lot and I gave away the things you're supposed to have to be able to live. I don't own any keys and I threw my phone in the river. My family will always remember me as the confused one who left and never came back. I'm searching. I will be forever wandering. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to find it. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.
My Review: This book was emotional and filled with so much things one can learn from, and maybe even relate. I thought that what I was up to read was a story of a young girls life, but only after a few pages I realized it's so much more. It's about the real life and the fighting and the mistakes that in the end will become a part of who you are. Her language jumps out and pulls you into the narrative. A fascinating and inspiring story of her wonderful, scary journey of discovery. No matter what you may think about this book, you can't help but agree that this is lovely writing and the story is wonderfully done. A perfect book, for many many reasons.
✪✪✪✪
