I was just reminiscing recently about back in 2003, when I was in a band and we all lived in the same house. I had just graduated high school less than a year earlier, and not one of us had a job (there were four of us in the band, and three of the guys, including myself, lived in the house together). Aside from the four bandmates, one of my best friends lived right down the road from me, and he came over to the house all the time. He didn’t work either. We were all in our late teens and early twenties, and we experienced nothing but hanging out, and playing music 7 days a week. Don’t get me wrong though, we didn’t have much money, and couldn’t afford to do much, but being able to go to bed as the sun came up and waking up in the afternoon just to hang out and play music was just utter euphoria. We are raised our entire lives to believe that we have to wake up at the same time everyday, and go to the same place for 40 years to be able to “make it” in life. It has been over six years since we all lived in that house, and I have accomplished a good bit (as many people do in a 6 year period) since then. But I can honestly say that through the projects I have been involved with, the jobs I have been employed in, and the money (and I hate money) that I’ve made since, not much seems to be able to top those times.

I mean really, what can top waking up at 2 PM and creeping into the living room wearing nothing but leopard-pattern boxer shorts, and blasting Cannibal Corpse as high as it will go to cause your couch-sleeping drummer to jump out of his skin? Or getting the guys together and playing for hours on end in the basement? Or making some frozen pizzas or ramen noodles, and piling in the living room to have one of our long-winded discussions about everything and nothing at the same time? One of the guys had a video camera that we would set in the corner and record our hours-long conversations, then we would watch the tapes later and just laugh and laugh. Good times.

Unfortunately, as time progresses, many things change for better and for worse. We all moved out of the house later that year, and really haven’t played together since. Also, some of the guys are married, some with kids, some have jobs that don’t allow for much else other than work and sleep, and one of the guys lives a few hundred miles away in another state. We are all still friends of course, we just don’t see each other nearly as much as I would like.

I guess the point that I am trying to make aside from reminiscing, is that you’re never too old to enjoy life. The need to set aside your happiness for “responsibility” is a misconception, and is intended to create just another worker ant. And chasing money will only make you unhappy and in need of more money and material. I was the happiest when I was dirt poor and had nothing but music. Start enjoying life for what it is, and try to not worry about money and material as much. Money and material are superficial, and can be gone in an instant. The relationships, the impacts that you make, and the art that you create will live on way after you’re gone. Appreciate and embrace what you have, and sing your life away