There have been a lot of changes over the last few weeks.
Change #1: I'm not at MacEwan Music anymore. I'm taking a bachelor of science at The King's University College, grabbing required credits for an application to medical school. People here have been asking me, "Music to medical school? Why the change?"
Over the summer, I had some long talks with my parents and friends about what kind of lifestyle I want to have. To make a living in the music business, I'd have to have my hands in everything. I wouldn't just be writing, recording, and performing my favorite music. I'd be scoring, arranging, teaching, and all manner of other gigs in all manner of musical arenas. There's very little "steady work" in music, and chances are the majority of musical stuff I'd be doing would be so far from my area of interest as to be barely recognizable. To top it all off, I'd probably still need a day job or two anyway.
This lifestyle of living paycheque-to-paycheque, gig to gig, town to town greatly appeals to some people. I am not one of those people. Sure it would be fun and exciting for a while, but I don't want to be a grey 55-year-old dude hustling up bar gigs to put his kids through college. By that point, it really doesn't sound so cool anymore. So I've gone back to what I've always done best: taking cool science courses and getting really good marks in them.
Change #2: I'm not living downtown at the condo with Kurty and Zander anymore. I live in residence at King's. My room is spacious, if a little dated. My roommate and I may not be the daily Spongebob Squarepants allegory that Zander, Kurty and I were last year, but we co-exist and don't fight or anything. A major positive about these digs is the cafeteria and meal plan. Not having to shop, cook, or clean up has added a significant number of hours to the week to be spent diligently studying (or, more likely, frittered away in friends' rooms). Which leads me to arguably the most significant change...
Change #3: I have friends now. Clearly I've always had friends, but there's a difference between having friends and having friends, if you know what I mean. For the first time ever, I have a group. A core group of friends, a mixture of guys and girls, that is somewhat exclusive. A group that actually goes out of it's way to come find me to hang out, a group that genuinely wants me around, a group that says "Hey where's Michael? We can't ______ without Michael!"
Beyond my group, I've been making all kinds of other friends too. People I've never met know who I am. I get invited to stuff. Girls have crushes on me (though, unfortunately, never the ones I want). I don't have enough time in the day to hang out with everyone that wants me to. My confidence is at an all-time high. I can hardly believe I'm saying it, but I'm popular, and it feels incredible.
The Lord, through amazing people and circumstances, is working in my life in a way that's never been so noticeable. I'm so thankful for everyone that's entered my life, and everything that's fallen into place this fall. Praise God! For the first time since Shad Dal '07, I can genuinely say I love my life.
My life right now scores a solid 9 out of 10. If you know my out-of-10 rating scale, you'll know that's kind of a big deal. If you want to help me push it to a 10, well... girls, I'm still single ;)
