The steel metal strings harmonise to the rhythm of my plastic commercialised guitar pick guided by the motion of my chipped cheap black nail polished hand, concentrating hard to follow the lead of its mirrored self, changing chords with my toughened yet aching fingers against the wooden neck of this pulchritudinous creature. Dents and worn out wood, the only remainder of the brutal bashings endured by past owners. Engraved initials, stickers from places I’ve never heard of before, bent string tighteners but still a crisp sound. These are all aspects of great characteristic of my guitar. This is not just a guitar. A guitar is not just an instrument but a companion.
The battered strap swings across my body, the guitar dangling effortlessly knocking against my back with every step I take. Worn out converse that have moulded to my feet, taken me all around the world from dusty deserted highways of the outback to the canals of Venice, slowly unravel beneath me only held together by numerous amounts of ducted tape. The sun beats heavily against the back of my neck, sneaking its way through the holes of my straw hat that once lay on cold cement collecting the earnings that keep me alive, reaching its way to my eyes to be only reflected from my scratched sunglasses that comfortably sit on the top of my freakily nose, the only marks left by the harsh rays from the so called ‘ball of fire’that can never really be viewed from the naked eye for more than 5 seconds. My ears, addicted to the stinging sensation of the buzzing music that flows through my earphones. Letting me slowly forget about the outside. My headphones, the barrier between my imagination and the insane harshness of reality. The real world disintegrating with every chorus, riff, guitar solo and bridge letting me explore the intoxicating queries and worries of my inner thoughts.
As I play on the streets of every capital city, witnessed and felt the essence of what true beauty is; people smile as they walk by, my happiness played through my music, rebound and spread throughout the atmosphere making people’s faces light up with every chord I play. Silver and gold change shower my hat the lay lonesome on the cold cement of a home to which over 1 billion people live. In and out people move uninterested, to busy and involved with their own lives but when dreary eyed suited zombies, brief case in one hand and a life reviver in the other stop and watch you while you play your companion it brings joy and drive into your heart because as they are off to work a 9-5 hourly shift doing nothing slightly significant and no goal to reach but the end of the day you get to enjoy the morning hours and give those a break from something they most likely hate, something that is never ending, the circle of life. Music is a short outlet that people crave to listen to as it distracts them from the madness and stress of reality and lets them fade away into a little world of nothing where nothing matters so therefore they feel at peace. I travel around the world not knowing when my next meal will be or where I’ll turn up; I just go with the flow and hope for the best taking risks and spontaneous decisions. No internet and no connections, the feeling of not being accusable or controlled by anything, the feeling of being free and not depending on one source, having no one know who you are but communicate with them through the language of music. I live in a world where I focus on bringing joy to others, nothing else matters besides me and my companion, Wilson.
