Last Saturday, I was able to cross off an item in my bucket list.
For 45mins, I was a street musician.
It was just me and my guitar. My stage, a small area in front of the shutters of a closed pet store. My audience, no one and everyone at the same time.
It’s something that I’ve always thought about doing. I’m sure some can relate. But really, who takes these thoughts seriously? It’s just one of those crazy ideas that you imagine yourself doing, just to able to say you’ve experienced doing it yourself. So that maybe that in your old age you can tell your kids/grandkids about the time when you too were young and crazy. Really, just a crazy idea. But something happened about a month ago, I don’t know what triggered it exactly, but this crazy idea changed from something I wanted to do, to something I had to do.
Planning was easy, especially since Nicole was very supportive. The concept itself was simple: find a spot, play the guitar, sing. All I had to do to prepare was to print out some lyrics and chords. Simple right? No, not really. It wasn’t that easy.
Yes, I was a street musician, a busker, for 45mins. But for more than 5 hours before that, I was an indecisive, fickle and whiny – how do I put this nicely – coward. I was scared out of my mind. And I made so many excuses – too dark, too bright, too many people, not enough people, hot, cold, you name it. I mean seriously guys, what was I thinking?
Nicole was very patient, but Nathan not so much. It was 8:30pm and he already fell asleep in his stroller. We had to bring him home. That could have been a perfectly good excuse.
But Nicole and I both knew – that was the only time to do that. If I waited another day, it would’ve turned to a week, to a month – then before we know it winter has come and it would be too cold.
So we parted ways. Nicole and Nate went home, while I went to look for a spot in Tanukikoji.
I saw two musicians with some space between them.
I sang my heart out. No one stopped.
To quote Third Eye Blind:
I’ve never been so alone
And I’ve never been so alive