open ocean

Here and Now-ish

After deleting a silly few words from this box, my thoughts twist from, “what can tumblr do for me?” to, “what can I provide for tumblr?”. A bit about myself and an inner craving to honestly and graciously extend my feelings to the reader, perhaps?

….(and, paragraph)

My name is Tareq. Known to some as, Tareq AK. I am an artist, a guitar player and songs are my craft. I’ve been playing for eight years (starting tomorrow) and writing for at least seven of them. Too many songs to count, so don’t ask. Oh yeah, apparently I’m 21 tomorrow and I’m not half as enthusiastic about it as everyone else seems to be. I’m glad to be alive, that’s good enough for me. Life has been so bittersweet. Everyone knows this, but I’m not sure everyone appreciates it. I wouldn’t take it any other way.

I was born and raised in one of the most…uh, well I cannot decide the best adjective to describe Ft. Wayne, IN. Boring, stagnant, uninteresting, close-minded, detached are some of the words that seem fitting. Not that that I hate it, I just feel that it wasn’t at all conducive to my temperament. I would not have know that if I hadn’t lived the first two decades of my life there (wow, two decades!). Oh well, that’s over now.

I moved to Nashville, TN a week ago and I like it a lot here. There is much music making here and a wealth of talented guitarists and other musicians. It has been a total roller coaster ride and I really loved that, at first. Meeting tons of nice people- great, making a visit to the rescue mission- not. Selling a bunch of CD’s- great, sleeping in my car for days- not. Once I did find a place to live I became very ill for the next day or two. I’m back on feet now and going through a cycle of being creative, then lazy (thanks, netflix), and then seeking employment.

This is the place and time where I will refine my craft and take my guitar playing to new heights. Focus is the one thing I could use more of- Tareq loves to get distracted. I have no idea what will happen here and I don’t want to pretend to know what the next second will bring me. Living in awareness of the unknown is where the light of creativity lies. I realized that I enjoy and thrive in the unknown and hope to get back to that state of mind I had when I first arrived, although this time, with more balance and wisdom.

-AK