The Heroes Journey!

Tommy and I were traipsing through the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. We didn’t know what else to do. We were both consumed by a feeling of apathy, unproductiveness. Boredom.   “Man, I just don’t know what to do aye,” I complained. We had just entered a thick part of bush, and it felt a bit damp in there. It seemed to reflect my mood. “I handed my CV in to so many cafes. Like, at least 12. And didn’t get a single reply.” Tommy simply listened; he is good that. “I’m a Hospitality Management Graduate! I mean, I have experience!” Things seemed to only be getting worse for me and my so called 'Quest'. My keyboard was still broken and I couldn’t make videos. I was trying to get a job (finally), but nobody seemed to be interested in hiring me despite my qualifications. My motivation to practice my instrument and to begin writing stories for my blog had all but evaporated. The creativity and zest I thought I possessed was actually an illusion. Things were only getting worse… ...

I had just launched an exciting new endeavour of recording my original piano music outside in beautiful locations with my battery powered Casio Px5s, to grow my Youtube channel and to (hopefully) increase my financial prospects.   But of course, something had to go wrong. I woke up one morning to a broken keyboard, lying facedown on my bedroom floor like some big old clumsy bone. The low E key - which happened to be one of the notes I played in most of my songs - was lodged in place; dead. I tried reviving it myself, unscrewing and removing the shell of the keyboard in our lounge, to conduct surgery on the thing. But I was faced with a jumble of wires, complicated electric boards, and more screws… I needed to find a Keyboard Doctor. “Hi, my name is Josh, and. I’ve kind of broken my keyboard. Do you guys fix keyboards?”  “No” “Allgood, thank you anyway.” Damn. I tried the next number. “Hello,” came the voice.  “Hi, my name is Josh. The othe...

Things were going well. I had finally made my first music video for Youtube, 'Stuck on Her',  and although the online response fell far short of my expectations, I was proud of what I created and how I created it. Recording piano music outside with the additional flavour of beautiful scenery was going to be my thing, I decided, and with that I would grow my Youtube channel from the ground up. Moreover, I had finally resigned my ambition to achieve financial  independence, and was now on the hunt for a full time job. It seemed to take the pressure off. Things were going well… Until the morning of May, the 19th. I stammered awake. My head felt like a balloon filled with cement, crushing my pillow. The air in my room tasted stale. And strangely, I was somehow more tired than when I went to sleep. Dropping my hand to the side of the bed, I fumbled for my phone. It could have been 8am, or 2pm… My hand dipped into something wet and chunky. I pulled up my hand, but I di...