Yesterday was proof that life doesn't always suck. (I also got to throw a big fat "I told you so!" in my daughter's face, so it ended up being extra good!)
My 18 year old daughter has recently taught herself how to play the ukulele. She has a very bad habit of short-changing herself because she compares what she can do with no training/practice to what others can do with years of training/practice. When it comes to music and art at least, I have tried so hard to get her to put passion over perfection since she obviously needs to love what she does, but when it comes to artsy fartsy stuff, being passionate about it will come out in her work. (I don't know about anyone else, but in terms of genuine enjoyment, I would much rather see that broke little bar band with guitars made of shoeboxes and rubber bands and a true love for enjoying what they do than I would to see someone huge who has forgotten where they came from, and makes it all about the money.)
Moving on from my ramble, she and a friend of hers got together last week, got messing around on the ukulele while sitting in the driveway and ended up with an album that they posted on Bandcamp and called it "Late Night Noises." The only thing they took seriously was having fun, but I have to say...it's pretty good and it's funny as hell. Seriously, if you're not offended by foul language, go have a listen.
Anyways, while teaching herself how to play the ukulele, my daughter has also been looking for work since school finished in June. She woke up yesterday morning and received a phone call for a job interview. She nailed the interview, got the job and starts on Friday! She then went to have a nap and woke up to an email telling her the album was being featured in a local magazine called "NFLD Noise." Could one day possibly get any better for a person??
We're all guilty of complaining about the crappy things life hands us and we often find ourselves winded by a blow (or ten) it has given. There are days when we just want to give up, we convince ourselves that we'll never get anywhere and sometimes the bad "luck" runs on and on. But eventually, the clouds will break. Sometimes it will be a little at a time and other times it will be all at once. Your job is to keep pushing forward until it happens.
Aside from bragging, I suppose the moral of my story is to never give up and never let anyone tear you down. Do what makes you happy, screw everyone else and live life for you.
