LIVE TO TELL- ROCK THE ERA PERFORMANCE
5:13 PM Posted by MS.NOVA
Today I woke up crying. There were times in my life I cried myself to sleep, painfully frustrated at how lost I was. Kicking and clawing, I have evolved from that dark place and July 10th was another milestone. Today I woke up literally shedding tears of joy while reflecting on this Rock The Era youth festival. Ever been THAT happy? Until today, I hadn't either.
Regular readers/tweeters know that I've been working on hard on the drums (I play the Taiko drums!) since September and also performed in January's Martin Luther King Day parade in a torrential downpour - another amazing experience about pushing myself no matter what! When I first signed up it was just for fun, but the drums became a metaphor for my life. Not being hard on myself when I didn't perfect a routine on the first try, being diligent about practice, encouraging other people when I reaaaaaally didn't feel like it and finishing what I started, even when it got hard.
Our goal was to have 15,000 in the audience and 12 days before, we had less then half. The day of - 20,000. Amazing!! Knowing we made the impossible possible was a serious motivator and I was pumped!! Friday, July 9th was the first practice of the 300 drummers (age 11-35) had together as many performers came from Alaska, Hawaii, Seattle, the Pacific Northwest, all over Cali and Nevada. On show day we arrived at 7am in Long Beach and did a dismal dress rehearsal. We were all over the place, excited and way too fast. Looking back, we needed that crappy point in order to dig deeper and pull out our best performance ever. Struggles make for a great story, as long as you learn from them.
Mikita & Mari
My highlight was watching my drum partners blossom over the past few months. Mari and Mikita are my giiiirls! I'm old enough to be their mother *shudder* but we have been partners from day one. They came into this big group shy and unsure and left shining and so confident! To have the chance to encourage girls that age, pushing them to persevere and win, aw man, that's the good stuff. I can only hope I impacted them as much as they did me.
Getting 300 people to do anything simultaneously is a feat, but we nailed it!! After 6 months of practice, a standing ovation! When we got off stage, you'd have thought someone handed us the World Cup! Spastic, elated, jumping hugging, crying, we did it together. I will forever remember the blisters on my hands and the proud faces of those little girls. When life points me to another cliff to climb, I will know that I have won in the past and I will do it again.
Nobody trips over mountains.
It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.
Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.
~Author Unknown
Where are you Nov?
See the vertical line in the center of the floor?
Facing the camera, the line hits a large drum on the outside row.
I'm to the left of that guy!!
There are 2 of us to a drum, and I come on at 1:45.
At some point my drum tries to slide away, but I keep it moving!
Note the hair in a poof on top of my head. I wanted to be easy to spot!
Enjoy in full screen!!
July 13, 2010 at 2:59 AM
that was amazing!!! i got goosebumps! congrats nov!!! xoxo nam
July 13, 2010 at 1:06 PM
@namk it was awesome to be a part of it!! lots of energy and excitement!! if u get a chance to learn something you might not ever get to do again...DO IT!
July 14, 2010 at 6:44 AM
I really admire your ability to put yourself out there and take chances. Wow, what an experience!!! Keep Shin'in
July 15, 2010 at 9:29 AM
nova sooo awesome :)
July 24, 2010 at 9:12 PM
omg nova!!! that was so great!! i got chills...look at you go!! yazzzz weerk!!
August 4, 2010 at 7:13 PM
This is incredible!!!! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!! Congratulations:) What a beautiful contribution:) Xoxo