I will make beautiful music.

When I was little, I wanted to learn how to play the piano.

I saw tons of my friend playing talk about going to their piano lessons. And I wanted to go to piano lessons, too.

So I begged my parents. And they said, "No." Because they felt that I would get bored. And it would be a waste of money.

We had an out-of-tune piano in our house. And I would spend hours banging on the keys. Making little tunes. Writing songs that I can sort of still remember. Sounding out things like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

But even after bleeding as much dedication as a seven year old could, my parents still wouldn't give me piano lessons. And being the eighties, I couldn't simply google "how to play the piano" like I can today.

So when we started playing the recorder, those simple little plastic instruments in the third grade, I practiced and practiced until I was the best recorder player in class. I played in my room after school. Before dinner. After dinner. I could play any song in that book the teacher gave us.

Still. My parents felt I'd get bored with the piano. I think they were just cheap. Or they thought dance lessons were more feminine (after all, I wasn't allowed to take karate, either).

So after years of being discouraged from learning the piano, at 27 years old, I googled "how to play the piano."

I also bought myself a keyboard. And I've been learning how to read music. I already know all of the keys. And  I'm starting to be able to play the easy songs (although playing with two hands at once is still beyond me, but it'll happen).

I'm going to do this. I can do this.

I taught myself how to ride a bike when I was in third grade (late bloomer, I know; but I had no one to teach me).

I taught myself how to do back handsprings. And then a series of back handsprings. And then with a flip in the end. And to salto off of a balance beam.

I taught myself how to swim. And dive. Sort of.

And I'm going to teach myself how to play beautiful music. It's not going to be easy. But neither was waiting twenty years to learn.