Craving A New Passion

As most of you know, I took on a challenge the other day as I entertained a copious amount of accepting classmates in STAC with a legendary song. An acoustic guitar in one hand, a powdery old pick in the other, I sang "Hide Your Love Away," by the one and only Beatles. I'll be honest, I was scared out of my mind (as you all probably observed from my shaking leg), but that didn't stop me from wanting to go through with it. Since I'm an actor, this wasn't my first time performing or singing in front of an audience; however, it was my first time bringing my guitar along for the spine-chilling journey. As I think back on this 2 minute performance, the question comes to my mind of why was I so intimidated by a class of supporting artists? I don't think I was as nervous about the song as I was with the fact that actual spectators were going to hear me produce sound out of this fascinating instrument. It was pretty awesome to hear feedback after I ended the performance because pretty much, the only critics I've had for guitar in the past year are me, myself, and I. I honestly practice with this instrument atleast one hour a day, not only because I want to impress my guitar teacher the next lesson. I do it because when my fingers touch the frets, I can't judge myself, my mind enters another sound wave, and I tend to crave the chills on my arms when I hear those dissonant chords erupt from the instrument. Quoting from Oasis, I can "slip inside the eye of my mind" and focus on making music more than anything else. After singing the Beatles tune for everyone, I'm struck by a new passion that I will continue to work at without hesitation. I want to perform more with my guitar as I expand my knowledge and build on my techniques. I can honestly conclude that enjoying something is one thing, but holding a passion for something is totally different. What I'm saying is that I strongly encourage everyone to get up sometime during your years in STAC and have the thrill of displaying your art in front of the most appreciative people you'll ever meet. Who knows, maybe you'll find out what the artsy side of you is really craving.