Saturday, September 11, 2010

Roots

When I was seven my family moved from the East Coast to the West Coast without preparing me for the move. It was a shock to say the least- my world was small and comfortable in little Sea Cliff, Long Island with my friends and my school and my neighborhood and suddenly I was forced to be a part of this new world and I wasn't ready. I always vowed to go back and so I did, right after college. I was sad to leave my friends and some family and the CalArts Balinese Gamelan I was a part of, but it was the right thing for me to do and I grew a lot because of it. I began taking music lessons, different from the Eastern style I knew, and then started a band. I casually sought out a new Gamelan but they were few and far between and I guess I didn't really know where to look. Besides, my mind was in another place- I wanted to play the bass and sing, and so I did. I missed dance a few years after the band made a place for itself, so I started taking ballet again at my music school. And now comes a new chapter in my life- I am once again a part of a Balinese Gamelan. I feel that excitement and nervousness that you feel when school is starting up again. It's been over 10 years. But I should look at my past and see that it will be no big deal...this pattern has happened before and I've always fallen right back into the groove. I like going back to my roots, something familiar and true, something that's continued to be a part of me even if it's been laying dormant for years.