This idea of leading many lives, or spending many lives is an interesting one to reflect on. Maybe now more than ever as I am in this recovery funk and not training; no weights, no jiu-jitsu, just stretching and ginastica natural every day. Short and sweet. And I feel better, nearly there, not as broken as I was a few weeks ago. This is my second life as a bjj guy. Like James Bond, except maybe you can live more than twice.
What was I in those years in between? A weight lifter, a gig go-er, band leader, well not leader but frontman (weirdly) of a band almost at the forefront of the Edinburgh death metal scene, which at the time was zero.
A husband first and foremost and then of course a father, which I must say was the best bit. The same employment has permeated throughout that time, and still does, though nowadays it is very different, quite fractured as we try to contend with the varied needs of the pupils we have. My life as a professional does not develop as much as it evolves in its simplicity. We break things down to the core of what these children need and can manage and hopefully they learn and benefit from it, however long it may take.
I’ve done the musician thing, endless jamming and the driving to gigs, carrying gear in and out the car or van. Now my gigs are a handful a year and I’m fine with that. I’m a business owner, which for all its failings, is still a business, just one that doesn’t make any money. I don’t promote it at all but the core ideals remain, and the writings continue.
In previous lives I’ve been a skateboarder, so I have a fair bit of insight into that world, from the 90s anyway, and I’ve been a record collector. The hundreds of records at my feet are testament to that. When are cds going to make a comeback? I’ve been a student a full time dishwasher, a traveller, worked in a record shop, unemployed, a failed teacher, a drunk, and more. It is quite possible to lead many lives and it is exciting to think of what the next one may be. I’ve climbed a fair few mountains too…