Year of the Tiger, 24 years away

This year that begins, 2022, corresponds to the year of the tiger according to the Japanese zodiac (basically the same as the Chinese zodiac), and I could not ignore the fact that 24 years ago, between 1997 and 1998, we began a year of the tiger that in many senses changed my life.

On that occasion, I spent the New Year holidays in Japan. Normally, we used to come to Japan in the summer vacations, since the summer vacations are longer. But for some reason, my parents decided that it was on these dates. I had never spent a new year in Japan before, and many of the traditions, dishes, even vocabulary, were practically new to me. It is one thing to know them through photos or TV, and quite another to experience them in person.

I was in the middle of my 17 years, a complicated age, full of uncertainty, where you are not an adult but society expects you to make decisions that will affect your life in a profound way. In love with love, in search of my personal and group identity, a musician at heart, and a bit tired of the monotony of school. Everything seemed decided for us as young people, or at least the expectation they have of us; probably continue studying, if possible even master’s or doctorate; buy a car with payments, and if you are very lucky, start paying off a house, while paying student debts that we accept without understanding their true meaning in the long term. Perhaps an office job, sales, agent, etc., where we will be for many years, climbing the ranks, or waiting for our prize in the form of a pension. I felt stuck on a road I didn’t want to travel, like I was on a highway at full speed jammed with vehicles and unable to turn.

Well, in many ways, this trip, 24 years ago, in a year of the tiger, helped me in a great way to really understand that nothing is written. That the expectations of society, pension plans, even horoscopes, are as valid as one wants to consider them. It was a trip that consciously brought me closer to my multicultural identity, that helped me realize that being a musician or an artist is not a rarity, that I can be the “weirdo” for others but that I could decide to be. It is obvious that you begin to mentalize all this beforehand, that you begin to repeat to yourself that you will not make certain mistakes, that you will do certain things differently from what your predecessors did, etc., but opening your eyes to a world of infinite possibilities is something that marks you forever. Perhaps the modern version would be to turn off the smartphone.

In 1998, the year of the tiger, I began my higher studies in music, I was able to turn the page on old unhealthy relationships, accept that I don’t need to fit into a social or ethnic group to be happy. I learned to be free, or at least I started my way to freedom. And 24 years later, I still walk this path, learning to be free every day, to accept that the infinity of options is a blessing, and that there is no right or wrong answer, only decisions that we make.

I look forward to new surprises in this year of the Tiger 2022!