Once upon a time this update was going to be about Recycling.
Yeah, two weeks ago anyways. I gave up on that one as a bad job.
Tonight, I realise something.
Something pretty big to me.
But allow me to backtrack a little bit.
You'll all know I'm a musician. I live it. I breathe it, enjoy it, study it, research it, wallow in it, dredge myself up with it. It is my life. My soul, my passion, my pride. I love it so much I'm running off to University in 3 months to study it. For a decade of my life, music has changed me, shaped me, moulded me into the person I am now.
But was it the only thing?
No. As with everyone, there are many contributing factors to who you are. Some of them aren't too good, some of them are silly, some of them are truly wonderful. And some of them make me step back and think: "Wow...did that really happen to me? Am I that lucky guy?"
Most things happen to me by lucky accident, I'll admit. Discovering a certain fandom: Luck. Finding certain people: Luck. Heck, even my Mathematics grade in my final two years ago was luck! Oh, and it was an A, for the curious - and I still don't know or understand how I achieved that.
Tonight, I reflected on one of those lucky accidents. A good friend once told me of this program called Skype. Back in the day, it was only a beta program. Now, it's a sprawling mass of people and culture, all talking to one another. I could be talking to one person in Canada, another in France, and another in Australia all at the same time with me in the middle of it all. It was a revelation to me, like MSN but with voice! Simply genius.
And you know, that was the key word: Voice. No longer would it just be words on a screen, no longer would it be a silent wait for the other person to type out a reply, no. Now, I could vocalise. Now I could hear. Now I could actually see the person I was talking to.
The program simply astounded me. It's creation has destroyed barriers between people. Once upon a time you had to grab a phone and suffer a huge bill to call someone in The States, usually with the most awkward conversations you could ever imagine. Now, it was free. Now, it was less daunting.
Now, it was exciting.
And I thrived on this excitement. I still do! I still get a buzz from being able to see and hear someone - perhaps someone well known in a fandom, or perhaps just a close friend - with no fear of awkwardness, expense, or hellish questions to answer. I was, to put it frankly, overjoyed at this prospect.
Over time, I have talked to and befriended many a person through skype. If it hadn't been for that gorgeous piece of coding, I wouldn't be friends with half those I am, and wouldn't know what fun I was missing! The random jokes to keep us all awake at 5am, the people falling asleep at their desks, the artists distracting themselves from work and complaining about it - but never once leaving, so much fun we were having.
And not just fun. People have cried on Skype to me, poured their hearts out to me as a vent. Been ridiculous on camera with me. Given me memories I will forever cherish. Made me laugh, made me feel heartbroken, and made me feel loved.
Loved. Truly, warmly, honestly loved.
Tonight, at 4am, I realised something.
Fuck my studies. Fuck my career. Fuck the people at my school that call themselves my friends.
Fuck the homework that was supposed to be handed in two days ago. Fuck the food steadily going cold downstairs on the kitchen counter. Fuck the music I should be making. I'm here.
Getting famous? Meh. Touring the world? Lovely. Making millions of dollars? Even better.
But I don't need any of that when the friends I have make me feel like a million dollars every single day, just by plugging in their microphone and saying 'Hello'.
Most of my friends I met by happy accident. But to those friends I've made: Travis, Aaron, Zack, Richard, Calvin, Kelly, Tony, and the countless others I've gotten to know...
You guys make me feel like the luckiest guy alive.
Yeah, two weeks ago anyways. I gave up on that one as a bad job.
Tonight, I realise something.
Something pretty big to me.
But allow me to backtrack a little bit.
You'll all know I'm a musician. I live it. I breathe it, enjoy it, study it, research it, wallow in it, dredge myself up with it. It is my life. My soul, my passion, my pride. I love it so much I'm running off to University in 3 months to study it. For a decade of my life, music has changed me, shaped me, moulded me into the person I am now.
But was it the only thing?
No. As with everyone, there are many contributing factors to who you are. Some of them aren't too good, some of them are silly, some of them are truly wonderful. And some of them make me step back and think: "Wow...did that really happen to me? Am I that lucky guy?"
Most things happen to me by lucky accident, I'll admit. Discovering a certain fandom: Luck. Finding certain people: Luck. Heck, even my Mathematics grade in my final two years ago was luck! Oh, and it was an A, for the curious - and I still don't know or understand how I achieved that.
Tonight, I reflected on one of those lucky accidents. A good friend once told me of this program called Skype. Back in the day, it was only a beta program. Now, it's a sprawling mass of people and culture, all talking to one another. I could be talking to one person in Canada, another in France, and another in Australia all at the same time with me in the middle of it all. It was a revelation to me, like MSN but with voice! Simply genius.
And you know, that was the key word: Voice. No longer would it just be words on a screen, no longer would it be a silent wait for the other person to type out a reply, no. Now, I could vocalise. Now I could hear. Now I could actually see the person I was talking to.
The program simply astounded me. It's creation has destroyed barriers between people. Once upon a time you had to grab a phone and suffer a huge bill to call someone in The States, usually with the most awkward conversations you could ever imagine. Now, it was free. Now, it was less daunting.
Now, it was exciting.
And I thrived on this excitement. I still do! I still get a buzz from being able to see and hear someone - perhaps someone well known in a fandom, or perhaps just a close friend - with no fear of awkwardness, expense, or hellish questions to answer. I was, to put it frankly, overjoyed at this prospect.
Over time, I have talked to and befriended many a person through skype. If it hadn't been for that gorgeous piece of coding, I wouldn't be friends with half those I am, and wouldn't know what fun I was missing! The random jokes to keep us all awake at 5am, the people falling asleep at their desks, the artists distracting themselves from work and complaining about it - but never once leaving, so much fun we were having.
And not just fun. People have cried on Skype to me, poured their hearts out to me as a vent. Been ridiculous on camera with me. Given me memories I will forever cherish. Made me laugh, made me feel heartbroken, and made me feel loved.
Loved. Truly, warmly, honestly loved.
Tonight, at 4am, I realised something.
Fuck my studies. Fuck my career. Fuck the people at my school that call themselves my friends.
Fuck the homework that was supposed to be handed in two days ago. Fuck the food steadily going cold downstairs on the kitchen counter. Fuck the music I should be making. I'm here.
Getting famous? Meh. Touring the world? Lovely. Making millions of dollars? Even better.
But I don't need any of that when the friends I have make me feel like a million dollars every single day, just by plugging in their microphone and saying 'Hello'.
Most of my friends I met by happy accident. But to those friends I've made: Travis, Aaron, Zack, Richard, Calvin, Kelly, Tony, and the countless others I've gotten to know...
You guys make me feel like the luckiest guy alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment