There have been many times in the course of my life whence I have wished that I had taken a slightly different path than the one I have ended up on. Not that I wanted to change huge things, but the small ones, such as learning to play the piano, or developing a relative distaste for popular rap and pop music. Many, many times I remember thinking, “Why did I even learn the piano? There’s nothing cool about that.” I was looking toward a more popular crowd figuring that changing my music tastes and lifestyle was the only option I had. What I wish I could have seen coming back then and that I remind myself of now is that, no matter what oddities separate you from popularity or a different crowd, if you’re not being yourself, you’re missing out on the pieces of life you would genuinely enjoy.
To explain this change of heart, I first need to journey back nearly two years ago to the final months of sophomore year. I find it safe to say I didn’t find myself “cool” much at all, and it did not necessarily bug me, but more just kept me somber about the idiosyncrasies that separated me from all those “cool” kids. Getting ready for a piano recital as the oldest student at my piano school certainly made me feel even less cool, yet I participated nonetheless. But that year, something happened that I never expected, nor could have guessed would ever happen. At my piano recital, I met a girl.
Shocking, I realize. But what struck me about the occasion was that this girl, a truly beautiful damsel living on the other side of Cary, was talking to me and giving me her number as we bonded over my playing the piano. As in, as I played she came to talk to me, and I played and we sang together through whatever songs I thought could possibly impress her. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought playing the piano for a decade would pay off more than compliments from 45 year old moms at a house party. As fate would have it, this girl I met through my seemingly unmasculine piano repertoire was on the outs from North Carolina, and I have not talked to her much since. However, I still remember her quite clearly.
This girl, though I knew her very little over a few weeks of talking, gave me something that, at the time, I truly needed. One thing I never got to thank her for, which I’ll never forget, and has kept me playing the piano and listening to indie music and loving Broadway musicals. She gave me a reason to love the little pieces of my personality, the ones that others found lame or a waste of time.
I will never even consider giving up playing music, or feigning interest in rap music or saying I’m just boiling over with masculinity. For this beautiful girl I met, she was truly impressed by something I almost found embarrassing at the time. She sought me out for my peculiarities, despite how I thought the majority of my peers saw me. And I know she can’t be the only one. So I’ll keep learning new songs and singing along in public, even if the popular crowd couldn’t care less; their opinions don’t matter. There are people out there who appreciate everything we do, and the only way to find them is to be yourself.
