One the one hand, I guess I could say that I don’t have a lot of regrets. To be sure, though, there are many things I regret saying, regret doing to another person. Who is without such things? But that’s not what I mean here.
In general, even when something turns out for the worst, I usually reflect on it as a learning experience, rather than a piece of wasted time. Generally, I regret more things I either gave up on or never even tried to do. Probably more than anything else, I regret that I didn’t stick with learning to play the piano. Or the guitar. Or the drums.
Yes, I played all three of those, some more briefly than others. I played piano for about a month, guitar for about 3, and drums for a few years. Of course, I never really got any good at them because I gave up so fast, but in hindsight, I really wish I had. Or that my parents had made me stick with it, either way. I would love to be able to create and share music with people. I would love to be able to sit down at a piano and tap out a song.
I’d love to be that guy who always has a guitar and a song handy, just whenever it’s most needed. But I can’t be. I suppose it’s never too late to learn, but it would’ve been a lot easier if I’d have learned young. So much free time. Such a soft, squishy, absorbent brain. I really wish I’d have stuck with it. If only for the ability to entertain myself.
So, maybe I’ll add that to the list of things to do in 2011. I own a guitar. Maybe I’ll should try to learn to play it, and put this regret behind me. We’ll see how it goes.
(This post was inspired by Lovely Anomaly. She linked me to the most amazing alto clarinet piece, Libertango. It’s really quite good!)