Prelude: Solace

Credit: textravler.com

 

By M. A. Alvarez II

Thus begins a new chapter.  A new age; a dream to come. A distant reality. There is much to do and much to see with this light shining so brightly as one looks into the past.

It’s impossible to forget the journey up to this. If I even started to recall the first memory within this place; this valley beneath a river called San Marcos. It was here that I became the person who I am today. It drove me away from a darker state and bestowed onto me a sort of confidence I had never known. Over time it took hold and made me stronger and firmer. I had felt my heart harden. Even as the strife of life and quarrels of my past broke my spirit. I found my way; somehow.

It’s hard to say when my transition started. I was so different before, but I can admit something was concrete. I had found solace in music. I remember the piano on the first floor of my dormitory at Gaillardia. Upon many nights, I remember sitting there playing with the keys, thinking of melodies past. It’s true. I was no one before I came to Texas State. No one important as it seemed. I barely knew what I was doing myself. Simply one could say I was a blank slate, predisposed by a past I wanted to forget.

But music changed my life. Before it was merely a means to focus and to bring words to paper as I am sure it is doing now as I write this. But it wasn’t until I found myself here, that I truly began to appreciate it. I was no longer bounded by the inhibitions of where I came from. My newfound freedom drew on a different part of myself, one that had gone unnoticed.

Eventually I developed a new relationship with music. It became a friend; comfort when in need. I even came to even realize that my writing alone could not be without it. Music was the driving force that brought life to my words. It was music that enticed them to flow from my mind.

My independence and perseverance in San Marcos has molded me and made me resilient because of that. Music drew me to people, places, and the times of my life. With each new memory, time had granted me wisdom. All within the light of night, within the solace of music’s serene sound. I have felt myself grow, from Sagewood to Copper. West to East and even in the heart of the city itself at Sanctuary. I have become one with this town and it has birthed a purpose in me. I have learned what I must do. I won’t fight my fate or test my faith. I’ll aspire to be all that I desire to be. All that is meant to be; to never settle. This is what I will seek; the American Dream.