My dad posed the title question a few days ago after I played a new song I am learning on the guitar for him. It seems that in the past few months I have had an uncharacteristic hunger to do and learn things that I have never dabbled in before. I guess that's what moving away from home can do to you??? Getting out of your comfort zone/bubble can really expose you to the wonderful world out there...and how you can experience more of it!!
I guess it started a few weeks ago when I told Dad I wanted to go backpacking. We've done it in summers past, but maybe he just thought it was a phase because he observed after the trip that climbing mountains isn't something I've ever really been excited about before...(even though I live in Colorado).
Then, a few weeks later I got astonishingly excited about something entirely new for me: ultimate frisbee. Now you need to understand something to appreciate this--up until this point,
I hated frisbee. The things scare me, I can't catch it, and I can't throw it. But in the name of sociability and community, I dragged myself to a game that some friends put together and dear world,
I had a blast. Needless to say I am still terrible at frisbee, and more than one person probably laughed at my antics, but I loved it so much that I myself organized a second ultimate game. It was awesome. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get away with playing a few games at school on the field before the soccer people yell at us to get off their turf...
And the feat I am still tackling but have made some headway in is something that has been on my bucket list for a year or two. When I was younger, my mom tried to teach me piano, which she succeeded in, but what she didn't succeed in was igniting a passion in my young soul for staying committed to studying music. For years after I gave up piano, I convinced myself that I am in no way musically talented and any instrument I try to play will end up sounding more like Sherlock Holme's pitiful violin than anything worth listening to. But this summer, with a few months of anticipated boredom, I decided to pick up my dad's guitar and teach myself to play. I've had friends who tried and quit...my sister has taught herself some chords but never stuck with it. Despite all of these odds stacked against me, I dutifully played for about twenty minutes everyday for about a month. And now, my friends, this girl right here can play 3 songs and most of the chords (AND I know notes, which I take extra pride in because everyone who plays guitar says that they don't know the notes). Booyah. And the songs are awesome ones, too...not like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or anything, but some jamming radio tunes.
Oh, AND I painted a beautiful picture of Africa with watercolors. It's beautiful.
So, in conclusion, I am learning that you are never too old to start learning and loving something new (and yes, I consider 20 to be old enough to start using that phrase). Just hoping that my creative and curious juices keep flowing even when I am confined to the dreadfully quiet study room in the library for the next nine months of my life...
