Creative Outlet

Lloyd’s comment in response to yesterday’s “weird things” meme totally cracked me up, but it also made me think.

Wait. Cigars?!? The cognitive dissonance of that revelation is making my head spin. I have a ton of writing to do, but can no longer think straight. Tell me there were also single malts, stilettos, and a tango with those Hemingway short stories?

I like this Champuru, much more complex than I thought.

Although single malts, stilettos and a tango were not involved, I suppose there are some things that might surprise people to know about me. Some seem so distant and out of character now, that even I almost forgot that they were a big part of my life at one time. And, from time to time, I wonder if they will become a part of my future.

In my early teen years, I had aspirations about a career in the music business. In spite of being painfully mediocre, I had dreams delusions that with enough practice, that I could be good enough to make music my career. I played a number of instruments, but could not be considered a virtuoso at anything. Guitar was my primary focus, but drumming was a close second. I had three guitars (an electric, acoustic, and classical guitars), a Pearl drumset, keyboard, trombone (which I played in band), and a Kamaka concert ukulele (from my days with Roy Sakuma). After school, I would race home and practice my guitar and drums for hours — probably to the dismay of our neighbors. Music was my obsession and I honestly wanted to be a rock star. I remember telling my parents that I would be the first Asian female guitarist in a famous rock band. I even told my mom to start thinking about what she would say to the reporters about me when they interviewed her. It sounds so silly now, but back then, I believed I could accomplish anything that I set my mind to.

That was before I took that reality pill.

Fast-forward a few years. I realized that no amount of practice would ever make me good enough to play amongst the guitar gods of my time like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I let my dream of becoming a musician die along with my youthful idealism. This left me floundering about without direction for a few years, which inevitably delayed my college education. But, that’s a story for another time.

I continued playing the guitar and drums for a few years after high school and joined the worship team at my church for a little while. After getting married and moving to an apartment, I sold my instruments and kept only my acoustic guitar and my ukulele (which has sentimental value to me). Eventually, I stopped playing the guitar when I rekindled the love affair with my Okinawan culture. I took up the Okinawan equivalent to guitar and drums: sanshin and taiko. I did that for a few years, then that, too, fell by the wayside as the busyness of daily life got in the way. I haven’t touched a musical instrument in years, except for this past summer when I was called back into service on short notice to play Taiko at the bon dance. (Video evidence is here.) To be honest, I often miss making music.

Then, there’s that whole issue of dancing… I am planning to stage my comeback to Okinawan dance sometime in the future. What transpires with my FET (frozen embryo transfer) in January determines how soon that comeback will be.

Lately, I’ve been finding creative outlets via other media such as blogging (obviously), photography, and videologging. Being able to create something, even if it’s not music, seems satisfying enough to my soul. I am quite certain that if the Internet did not exist, I would still be pursuing my musical interests.

What’s your creative outlet?

Day 21 of 30