NOSTALGIA IS A WEAPON

A year ago today I vowed to give up smoking, another attempt to add to the dozens over the past few years. Well, this one actually stuck. Besides the handful (maybe five) of cigarettes I’ve bummed from people (usually while heavily inebriated), I haven’t touched them since.

It’s actually weird to look back and think of myself as a smoker. It seems so foreign now- “Really? A cigarette? Why on earth would you want to do that?”.

My world smells a little cleaner these days, and I’m in better health and spirits than I’ve been in years. Not sure how much of that is related, but what it boils down to is: I don’t miss it one bit.

Had my first piano lesson this afternoon. It was quickly noticed that I have a horrible tendency to use the pads of my fingers to depress keys rather than the tips. As a result I’ve spent a good chunk of this evening running the C major scale back and forth on both hands in an effort to rid myself of a nasty fifteen-plus year habit. It’s nice to have someone point out what I’ve been doing wrong all this time, and to deliver such information so nicely and politely. Between working on that and counting my rhythm I’ve got a healthy dose of homework for the next week. Lesson number two is next Monday. Time to put in some good hard work so I can impress.

I’m suddenly overcome with excitement at being a student again. *grin*