The first time I tried busking, a security guard shut me down after only six minutes.  The prime spot that I thought was public property was apparently private property.  ”Oh well!” I thought, “I’ll just find another good spot.”  But it’s harder than you’d think.  I walked around Robson street looking for a place to play.  As soon as I spotted a decent open area with lots of pedestrian traffic, I noticed that there was already a busker there.  The next good spot I saw was being reaped by a homeless panhandler.  I didn’t want to compete with him (plus I would feel bad taking away his “business”).  Other good spots were taken up by painters and street venders.  So I tried relocating to a different neighborhood.  I thought that Gastown might be nice, being a major tourist location.  However, I found the sidewalks to be too narrow to perform on without blocking pedestrian flow (not getting in the way of  business is one of the main rules for busking).  So I called it a day and gave up, after only performing for six minutes and making no money.

Well, tonight I gave busking another try.  I decided to go to the Broadway / Commercial skytrain station.  Commercial drive is an artsy area, so I figured the people there might appreciate some live music.  I saw a great spot right away, so I got all set up and was just about to start playing.  Sure enough, a panhandling homeless man came up to me and complained that we would be competing and confusing people.  I didn’t want to get in a fight, so I went around the corner to the other entrance.  

I got my first busking dollar from a guy who had a request.  But not a song request… no, he wanted to hear me play scales!  It was a little bit odd, but I’m all about pleasing the people, so I played those scales backwards and forwards with passion.  

Eventually I began playing a set of songs - both originals and covers.  I got a lot of smiles and had a few people stopping to listen.  But only occasionally would someone actually drop in some change.  It was frustrating to see people stop and reach into their pocket or purse (me thinking they’re reaching for change to give me) only to pull out a cell phone or lipstick or whatever.  It got my hopes up and then shattered them.  

At one point there was a small group of people gathered around.  They seemed pretty into the music, so I was thinking I might get some money, but after I finished a song, one of them told me that he built my guitar.  I like to think they actually did enjoy the music, but the main reason they stopped is because they noticed I was playing a Haida Gwaii guitar and this guy was the luthier.   It was interesting meeting the guy who put so much work into building the guitar that I put so much work into playing.  We have very different experiences with the instrument.  His creation (the guitar) has made my creations (the songs) possible.  Very cool!  He gave me his card for the new guitar company Paragon (since Haida Gwaii guitars aren’t being built anymore).  

I ended up playing a full hour set of busking and made a grand total of… drum roll please… three dollars and seventeen cents.  Not quite minimum wage (or even half, for that matter), but that’s okay.  I basically view it as paid practice.  I made more money by practicing on the street than I would have by practicing at home, so I say it’s worth it.  Now I just have to make $31.83 to break even on the cost of my busking license.  Ridiculous.

I woke up this morning with a sense of awe in regards to peripheral vision.  I have these weird moments every once in a while.  Sometimes I’m amazed with all of the joints in my hands that make it possible to do so many different things with them.  I am continually impressed the the design of the human body.

So with peripheral vision, how is it possible that I can see almost 180 degrees when I look forward?  It’s like I have eyes on the sides of my head.  I guess it has something to do with the curvature of our eyes (although I would think the convex aspect of our eyes would give everything that “fish eye” lens effect).  I don’t really know how it works, but I think it’s incredible!

The thing about peripheral vision, though, is that I rarely pay any attention to it.  Maybe something will catch the corner of my eye, but then I’ll turn my head and look at it with my full gaze.  But that is not an often occurrence.

There are a lot of things in life, and perhaps even a lot of people, that are in the peripherals.  Things that nobody pays attention to.  People that no one even notices.  In Vancouver, for instance, there is a whole community of people living on the street in the downtown east side.  Many people just walk on by when they see a homeless person begging for money.  They pretend like they don’t even see them.  They keep the homeless in the peripheral, where it is safe.  I am very guilty of this myself.  Part of the problem is that I don’t know what to do to truly help them out (because obviously, for many of them, money will just go to drugs or booze).  But I think the bigger issue is that I have kept my life so busy so that I can use the excuse: “I can’t help because I don’t have the time.”  Who does have the time?  And homeless people are only one group in the peripheral.  What about people with special needs, or the elderly, or pregnant teens, or refugees, or prisoners?  What about sickness, or disease, or under-funded public transit?

There is a lot in the peripheral and we need artists to turn our heads.  We need paintings, songs, dances, films, and writings to catch our eye so that we may look with our full gaze.  We need people who are willing to miss an episode of their favorite show in order to have the time to help someone in need.  We need to look around and see what’s going on.