My mother always encouraged me to do anything I liked, even if it was a spur of the moment sort of thing: I did dancing, book club, acting, modeling, singing lessons, choir, guitar lessons, painting lessons... most art related activities but also some sports, and I really appreciate that she let me go and try all the things I was interested in, even when that lasted 5 minutes.

However I wish she would have also encouraged me to persist in them. She tells me she never wanted to pressure me into doing anything I didn't like, which is fair. If I wanted to quit on some activity because I didn't like it anymore or because I thought it was too hard to manage, she would insist once: "you need to be able to finish what you start." But then I would insist louder and she would let me quit hahaha.

I guess there is one thing I often regret quitting and I wish she had pushed me to continue: my music lessons at the conservatoire. I think my life as a musician (and in general) would be completely different if I hadn't quit, if I hadn't felt the pressure was too much or that I just wasn't cut out to that kind of education. I still feel like that sometimes, but I appreciate my own process in the music path, however bumpy and unexperienced as it has been. Not engaging in a strict and formal musical education allowed me to experiment in other types of artistic expressions which have helped me shape the person I am today. So, I am still grateful.