The Virtuous Path

This weekend's taiko looks a little blurry. Seems like we're in the familiar dilemma of we're really loud and we need to find a way of pursuing the music without completely alienating ourselves from the neighbors. Got an email today from Janet today saying that her goal was to build community, not annoy them. Which of course is true and right and the virtuous path. I, on the other hand, am younger and more fiery and combative. I'm discovering this about myself. I think youth desires what it wants and throws caution to the wind and, in essence, pisses off the neighbors. But this is not the way to go, ultimately, and I know that. Remember a little while back I was like, I need to resign from Emeryville Taiko IthinkI'llsendanemail, and Janet was like, don't create regrets, at least call, for godssakes. I did, and I don't regret it. But this is why I do not talk to the neighbors. If it was me against annoyed-Alameda-guy, I'd be like, shut the f*$% up and leave us alone! But instead Janet was like, OK, I'm listening to you, here is my phone number, call me before you call the police. I am young. She is older and wiser. I need to work on that. Wiser works out better in the long run. Annoyed-Alameda-guy eventually came around and started speaking reasonably and saying reasonable, logical things when he realized he was speaking to a reasonable, logical person. Not that what we wanted was to scramble to find a new space to practice or have to muffle the drums, but it was logical in the community-building sense.

Which leaves us with this weekend. Where are we gonna play? The new space has no doors or windows or soundproofing. Hopefully we will work something out, even if it means playing at Janet's house, which still poses the dilemma of neighbors and space. This is not what we wanted. This is not what fiery youth desires. But I, the I that is getting older (gulp), and realizing things about the world and the world that we create for ourselves, is realizing that in order to take the really big steps that we desire, must learn that big steps are really just just a series of a bunch of little steps. We just make them look big.