Passion Vs. Responsibility

Let's talk about drumming.

I'm not going to lie to you-I didn't so much as touch a pair of drum sticks yesterday at my lesson.
Here's how things went down: I knew Harry would be running late (poor guy is ALWAYS running late) so I let myself into his house as I always do, fell asleep on his couch for about 20 minutes, woke up when he got there and then we proceeded to talk about life for another hour or so.

That said, it doesn't mean I didn't learn anything yesterday. We talk about everything, but we mostly stick to music. Inevitably, Dave Matthews Band was mentioned, and I learned that he had already gotten tickets for at least 5 of the upcoming spring tour shows. This guy is devoted. I covet Harry's life a little bit, but as he (and Bishop Allen) point out, "Things are what you make of them." If my life is anything less than I really want it to be, then that's my fault. I don't have to work at a job I don't like. As Harry said, I don't have to work at all. I could quit my job, stop paying bills, live on the street and have all day to practice if I wanted to, and he's right. (I'm not going to do that, well at least not the stop paying bills/live in the streets part)

This really got me thinking about passion vs. responsibility. As I get older, I find myself more and more losing everything that is important to me because I feel the need to live this life of responsibility. I have a college degree therefore I must have a professional job therefore I must devote 40 hours a week to it therefore I must go to bed at 10 every night therefore I have no time to practice blah blah blah...it could literally go on forever. So what I have to do now is question how much devotion I have to my drums or my own happiness in general for that matter. Am I willing to make the time to practice everyday? Am I willing to do what I need to do to get the drumset I need for that? or do I even need a drum set? Alot of people find rythm all around them, using pens at their desk or pots and pans at home. I just don't know if I have that gift.

Watching people like Harry (yes, just watching him, his actions, expressions, thought process) makes me really think about how unsatisfying and miserable a dispassionate life can be. So, a new mission (let's just add it to my mile long list, shall we?): find my passion.