I was a cat called Curiosity.
Managing to scale my crib's hundred-foot walls, I surveyed the expansive landscape that was my living room. Undeterred by the roaming Roomba, I embarked on a journey toward my favorite toy: a plastic piano. As my pudgy fingers wildly slammed the keys, I was enamored by the utter chaos produced.
Only a few months later, I made a discovery after countless listens to Dad's lullabies. By pressing the keys in a calculated order instead of smacking them, I transformed cacophony into melody—"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
This moment remained fresh in my mind as I grew older. The sounds we hear are merely frequencies of different hertz, kurtosis, and central tendencies. Noise is, after all, noise. Nevertheless, our brains still prefer a piano concerto over the clanging of pots and pans.
What even is music?
These four words forever transformed my perception of the piano and guitar. Beyond their physical function, they had become gateways to a realm of infinite possibilities. Seemingly endless combinations of notes, scales, and arpeggios fueled my search for the true essence of music—just as I searched for the true essence of myself. My fingers danced across the keyboard, a ballet of improvised melodies and chord progressions. At home, the living room overflowed with a vibrant array of colors as my family harmonized in delight.
However, while my love of music-making flourished, my elegant dance became sluggish. Gradually, chords and crescendos were replaced by anguishing cries between Mom and Dad. My living room turned greyscale; my parents stopped listening to me play; my piano and guitar started gathering dust.
Just as we were plunged into a suffocating silence, my brother discovered Minecraft. In a video game where possibilities are King, its 'finish line' ultimately depends on the player's imagination, whether it entails slaying a dragon in an otherworldly dimension, blowing up your friend's house, or taming axolotls.
While each player undertakes a unique adventure, one element of the Minecraft experience remains universal: its soundtrack. Wherever we are in-game, the calming, soothing melodies are instantly recognizable. A constant that subtly narrated the world, accompanying us as we fought fierce battles and claimed sweet victories.
For the first time in my life, music no longer existed alone. Instead, it brought to life a different world through which I could briefly escape my own. A world where Mom had never cheated on Dad. A sanctuary that rejuvenated my spirits and rekindled my drive. After experiencing how music transcends itself, my simple question evolved into an exploration of my own potential.
If you could build anything, what would it be? Minecraft is a world in which anything is possible, and music is a blank canvas on which I endlessly iterate my self-portrait. The prospect of infinity afforded by the two inspired me to push my passions toward a pinnacle of understanding, and to facilitate creativity within future generations. After dissecting Minecraft's core mechanics, I founded workshops that utilized the game to teach elementary students real-life skills: resource management, engineering, and team building.
I realized it then. The contagious laughter and nostalgic soundtrack that swirled around the workshops made me feel nine years old again. As they played Minecraft, the children's eyes lit up with ingenuity and an uncontainable excitement. A decade ago, I had the same eyes. It was a picture-perfect moment of bliss—a moment my childhood had recreated.
I want to extend this moment infinitely.
Minecraft and music are so much more than just cleverly constructed sequences of ones, zeros, and sound waves. They ignited insatiable fires, eternal flames burning with a resolute passion to elevate creativity. Immersing children in worlds that cultivate curiosity is the true magnum opus of technology. My stubborn desire to advance these experiences into the unknown defines me. I subsist on innovation: to set boundaries in a boundless world.
If curiosity killed the cat, then so be it.