shanmonster | This is the Only Life I Get. I'm Gonna Make it Good

Juggling is something other people do. Special people. So is DJing, firebreathing, acrobatics, martial arts, gymnastics--anything, really, that I don't do.

That's how I used to think. I thought there was a special class of people out there doing cool stuff that I wouldn't even consider for myself. The only thing I thought I could do for myself was read, write, research, ride my horses, and chat with my friends (friendship was even a strange concept to me, but one I was warming to).

I think the very first time a seed was planted in my head that I could do these things was when a woman in my first year English class made the offhand remark that she thought I'd be an excellent DJ.

After she said this, I'm sure she didn't think about it again.

But I did.

I stewed on the topic for days.

I could be a DJ. The training was available.

And if I could be a DJ, then what about all that other stuff out there that I'd assumed was far beyond my grasp?

That summer, I became a DJ. A year later, I won an award for best specialty programme.

Now, if I think something is interesting, I make an attempt at it. Some things fall by the wayside (eg. I gave up pottery, because after trying it, it just didn't sing to me). Sure, there are a few things which I believe are beyond my grasp (I don't believe I'm physically capable of becoming a contortionist, for example), but most are not. I guess this is why I began studying kung fu after I'd turned thirty, then started studying pole dance five years later. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to learn to walk on stilts, go paragliding, and learn to ride a skateboard. But if the opportunity presents itself, you can bet your ass I'm gonna carpe fuckin' diem!