(Originally posted on the website Continuum…)

RECENTLY I completed an interview for an online forum that I participate in. I decided to post my responses to four out of the five interview questions on my site as well. This is the fourth of four journal entries based on these questions.

QUESTION 4. You do a lot of photography and reading and have recently gotten back into playing the drums. Are there any other hobbies you’ve pursued in the past and abandoned or any you’re considering adding to your roster of activities? What do you like best about these pursuits?

My personality leans heavily towards the creative side. My mom always encouraged this and is very creative herself. By the age of 3 or 4, I was banging on her pots and pans and making music. Reading was always encouraged at home as well. As soon as I could read, my mom was supplying books. I’ve dabbled in various crafts over the years: drawing, painting, wood burning, scrimshaw, calligraphy, crotchet, model rocketry. Some of them I suck at. Some of them I’m good at. I just don’t have time for all of them.

As you said, I recently got back into playing the drums. Formerly, I played from the age of 10 or 11 until I was into my 20s. I set it aside for a while in order to devote myself to my kids mainly. Selling my old drum set just killed me. I missed it. Once, I went to a music store, bought a new pair of sticks and said, “One day I will play again.” Last May, 18 years after I stopped playing, I bought a new set and started to polish my skills again. There were a lot of years to make up for! After several months of practice, I auditioned for a few bands and started playing with one in November 2003. We recently spent some time in a studio to record a demo cd. So, after 18 years, I went at it with a vengeance. I’m having a blast with it.

During those years of not playing drums, I taught myself to play guitar to some extent (I play guitar like a drummer. It’s all rhythm!). I spent some time writing songs and singing/playing on my own. This kind of fell to the side after my second divorce. After joining the band, I’ve had a renewed desire to pick up my guitar again and write songs. A good friend and I have been talking about writing some songs together that would be performed in an acoustic folk sort of way. It will be the opposite of the ear-splitting, in-your-face rock-n-roll that I am playing with the band. This is one activity that I am eager to add to the roster.

What I like best about these pursuits is that they somehow make me feel more complete as a person. They feel like an extension of who I am. When I sat down at the drum set for the first time after all those years, I was ME again. Something came to life again. It’s the same thing with writing. It is who I am. I don’t know how not to write. I’ve been told that I write well. But I feel like I don’t care all that much. I have to write. If I didn’t write I wouldn’t be me and my head would explode from having no outlet for all these crazy ideas. Same for photography. It’s an extension of who I am and how I look at things around me. It all feels quite natural. There is enjoyment in sharing these things with others. There is some enjoyment in being recognized in some of these things. It feels good to have one’s ego stroked now and then. But ultimately the thing I enjoy the most is that feeling that I am more myself when I do these things and to neglect them is to diminish myself as a person. I could play my drums for hours and hours all by myself for the sheer pleasure of playing. But do applaud if you happen to be standing outside listening!

THE END