My Life After Moving To Asheville, North Carolina

My whole life I've been antisocial, rarely seeking friends or conversations, and the very thought of performing live music terrified me. However, after moving to Asheville, North Carolina, I was finally able to realize the importance of community and friendship in my life, and it led to playing my first concert.

Growing up, I never had many friends, and I preferred it this way. On school field trips I'd usually be the one sitting under the shade of a tree, completely engrossed in a book or even writing something of my own, the outside world not being a worry on my mind. Whenever I was put into a situation where I had to collaborate with someone else, I would do everything I could to get out of it. It was never that I didn't like people, I
Unlike many of the times I had moved in my life, I was eagerly anticipating settling in there. Asheville was my favorite city and I realized it could be a good opportunity to open myself up more and create meaningful relationships, however, it still felt like a goal I might never accomplish. At this point in my life, the thought of starting a conversation with someone would make my stomach churn, and it often felt like words weren't able to make their way out of my mouth. So despite finally feeling some desire for relationships, I still didn't actively seek them out. Things started to change when our neighbors visited to welcome us to our new home, which I'd never experienced before. I began to think more and more that maybe it would be easier to make friends here than the other places I had lived before. It all came to a major turning point when I began to go to concerts. Asheville has one of the brightest, most beautiful live music scenes, and that was a big reason I wanted to move in the first place. For the next couple of months I would pretty regularly go out, and often times the people at these events would start conversations with
I gained the confidence to inquire with total strangers about collaborating on music, and it converged into something I wasn't sure I would ever do. On a cold October night, me and some friends I had met laid aside all of our anxieties and connected through the wonderful power of music. I was the last to play that night, and I had honestly considered backing out so many times, saying I felt sick or that I had an emergency and had to leave. But despite the insecurities I was feeling, I went on stage with my guitar and played in front of so many people I had never met before. Its hard to describe the feeling of overcoming something you've been dreading your whole life, it was like nothing I had ever felt before, my entire body was still shaken with adrenaline, but I had done it, and hearing all the compliments made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, it was a feeling I now yearn for now with the confidence to know that I can actually do