Yesterday I had my second saxophone Eisteddfod and I received a Silver and Silver plus. Which I wasn't actually expecting. Considering I have been like a foster home for saxophones since we found out that the keys on my original baby were skew. Basically, I've only really practised for the past week, it's a brand new sax (and it's BEAUTIFUL, but it needs to settle... or something...) My teacher bullied me into playing and my pieces ("Vocalise" - Rachmaninoff and "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" - I'm not really sure) are really rather technically challenging. To put a top hat on it I was also really nervous and you can't exactly play saxophone if there is no air flowing over your alveoli.
Thus, we went to the Italian ice-cream shop for extra dark chocolate ice cream, it has this amazing way of soothing one, especially considering I have not been for ice-cream since summer. I then went for a walk and I felt far calmer and at peace. As I was walking I saw an old homeless man whom I see on a regular basis - I always greet him, because he has a quality about his face that I just absolutely adore and he always seems so lonely, sitting there with his newspaper. Yesterday, I was muching my ice-cream and I saw him and I felt soo guilty. Here I was eating an exravagant ice-cream, while he had no place to go for the night. Yesterday I found out his name is William and that he loves me. I became rather flustered and just said my normal hello and carried on walking. I wish I had stopped to talk to him. Today he was not in his normal spot when I was walking home from school. I was decidedly disappointed that he wasn't there and I'm still worried about where he is. I'm realising more and more that we take life and all of the opportunities that we have for granted.
I'm in the top 1% of priviledged people in the world. Yet all of this is completely meaningless and that is something I need to rememeber - we fear so much in this country, we need to start appreciating more and remember that all people are just that - people. No matter where they live.
Not only do I appreciate the segue from nervous alveoli to homelessness, but you also raise a very good point. People are people. And as elementary as it sounds, I know that learning it empirically and experientially is far more profound than reading it.
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