Playing a New Game this Holiday Season

.— By Abraham Mirambeaux

Playing arcades games as a kid gave me this sense of purpose. I would always give all my energy and time into trying to beat someone's record, thinking that was a real goal. I don't know what it was, but I felt so secure becoming a fictional character, holding a radioactive gun to search and destroy evil alien cyborgs from fleshing on my armored body. Merry Christmas noob, Phew! That is how I usually spent the holidays, in my room, locked up and making fun of all the wannabe hotshots who were contending across the internet.

There was nothing in the real world compared to that, which is why I decided to rent more games from Blockbuster. I was such a huge dork for zombie games and first-person shooter which caused me to keep on renting religiously.

One day, my mom got tired of me yelling at the television. She would hear me cursing from four rooms away. Eventually she decided to unplug my gaming console, take my Gameboy away from me, and told me I had to spend time with my older sisters. However, I managed to bargain my way out from staying with them. I would walk across the street to Starbucks, come back with pumpkin spice lattes, and from there I was free.

The issue became bigger since I really had nothing to do in the house. My father would decorate the entire Christmas tree, and the lights around the house which already looked like an emblem of a Christmas card. Unfortunately I could not watch the Charlie Brown Christmas specials since my eldest sisters occupied the television with reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was so whiny, and complained about it all the time.

Later I heard my grandmother at the kitchen table announce that we had just bought a new piano. I got up turned, and next to the crackling fireplace, was the piano. I examined the piano like a black spacecraft from Final Fantasy 4. On top of the red velvet upholstered, there were notes and symbols like an instruction manual that trails into a secret dungeon path. With practice and patience, I was able to master another game and after 90 days I became much better, take that noobs!

The sequence of learning to play an instrument is interrelated to the motor, visual, auditory, which are parts of the brain that teaches the same discipline when learning a new activity. For instance, visual: as if someone seemingly at random throws a snowball at you, you can dodge it at a faster rate than the average person. Motor: in terms of memorizing Christmas carols or kinesthetic sense. Auditory: relating to speech sounds, like distinguishing the sound from Santa's voice from the top of a chimney. The discipline to learn an instrument can teach how to transition those skills to other activities; rebuilding a new thick band of healthy nerve fibers. Pick up an instrument today and play something beautiful for the holiday season.