Sleeping on the streets.
I remember the day I woke up and I was right under an outdoor stairway of an old building in downtown. I had been drinking at a bar with some friends and at some point ended up walking away from everybody and decided to find a spot where I could sleep that night, (since going home wasn’t an option)
For years I lived a “normal” life without realizing that as time went by, an internal separation was building up.
Now I can say, that as we grow old (I’m currently in my thirties) we try to find our place in this world while at the same time we have to make money to survive. A lot of times, we have to give up our dreams. That night I ended up sleeping on the streets looking up to the sky and asking the full bright moon (or something up there)
“how did I get here?!”
My soul has always being of a musician but I always worked in places that wouldn’t explode my passion. (in particular-writing music)
I think (and after talking to other people) most of us go through the same kind of situation where we try to find purpose in life. Some try to find it in drugs and alcohol, others get married and have kids, others marry their jobs, others go by wasting their life away chasing dreams that at the end won’t fulfill their spiritual and/or emotional needs; others give it all to God, and well, others go for their dreams and don’t rest until they reach them.
I don’t know if any of these cases apply to you, but I hope all of this makes sense so you can understand where I come from.
Since I was 13 years old, I’ve been writing piano music with not specific purpose. It has always been my way of expressing my deepest emotions.
The link to some of my piano song I’ve written during my life journey could be found here
But before I became a full time music composer and producer, my journey took me to many endless hours at jobs I couldn’t stand; I even started a company selling shoes online that never really took off.
But what got me to the point of not wanted to go home (I lived at my dad’s house) and didn’t care any more if I slept on the street that night was the fact that many things came together to make me realize I wasn’t going anywhere in life.
I went drinking downtown with some friends (not that I could afford it but it seem like the right move after all) As the night went on, things got ugly (me being upset, frustrated and of course a bit drunk) I became hostile. Somehow I came to my senses and before I did something I would probably regret, I took off and walked and walked until I found a place where I could sleep (on the streets). I felt this was the end of the road for me and I knew I needed to stop now and find a new path. It was past 2am and walking home didn’t make sense and of course going back to my friends after behaving the way I did was definitely not an option.
When I woke up that morning, with pain in all my body (I believe that’s what happens when you sleep on concrete…just being funny) I stood up, put myself together and walk my way to the nearest bus stop. I probably walk a mile through a ghetto neighborhood that, as I was walking through, I got approached and offer all kind of drugs…kind of a new experience for me; and to be honest I felt afraid but I wasn’t sure if it was because of where I was and the people that were approaching me or for the fact that all of that was happening around me and I didn’t care.
I made it to the bus stop with 50 cent in my pocket, got in, the driver told me “that’s not enough, it’s a dollar fifty” I looked at him, he looked at me and some how a lady with her baby in her hands stood up from the inside of the bus and gave the dollar.
I was so grateful for that.
At this point, I had just closed the shoe company, got out of a 2 year relationship with my now ex-girlfriend and now I didn’t have any savings at all.
For some people, turning points in life come in different shapes and level of pain and difficulty, but the message is always the same:
Are you ready to make a change in your life?!
If not, don’t be surprise if the next turning point is a bit more tragic or aggressive.
In my case, and after days of the sleeping-on-the-streets experience, I was ready to make that change. I needed help; and after finding a support group (family and others) and in a fairly short time (about 3 months), I rearranged my priorities and embarked into a new quest.
Chasing my dream of becoming a music composer and reaching many people with my music.
Because I put my soul in my music and hopefully listeners will feel inspired to awaken their true desires and aspirations; and perhaps motivate them to chase their fulfilling goals.
I won’t lie to you, the first thing I had to do was to get a job, but now I knew it was a temporary job until I could produce more music and find more people that love music and want to be part of my journey.
I’m glad that you are here reading my story today because
I have a little gift for you!
I wrote a remix of the song “Climax” by Usher. I had the opportunity to submit this remix to a contest and it received a lot of great feedback from my peers and others. My version it’s a bit more romantic than the original and it features a piano and cello as the main instruments; of course, it still has the R&B touch to it.
The track is not currently available for sale but as a THANK YOU for being one of my subscribers I want to give it to you for free – no strings attached.
Download my version of Usher’s Climax here.
If you like the track you might also consider checking out my album “Piano Sentiments One”. It’s the first of two albums and it is full of piano tunes that I know will feed your soul.
Talk to you soon and please write me a comment if this my story resonates with yours or if you just want to say hi,
Karluca
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