Arena 37 June 2009

Just realized I never did this one. Better late than never, right?? ^_^;;;

Note: I'm doing this from a really crappy scan with the end of each page blurred beyond legibility. Sorry for the holes!
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Interview with Mina from Black Blenda

Myself ten years ago and Myself ten years from now

The armor I wore have slipped off, and now I feel so much lighter.
To be honest, I never even thought I'd be married at this age (31 years old). When I was in my early twenties, I was working nonstop, so I never really had time to think about things like love. Ten years ago things seemed to be going smoothly: we'd released a lot singles, and been invited to appear on Kohaku every year. So I wonder why I never felt satisfied? I've always been a perfectionist, but it was getting really bad (LOL). How I looked, and my desire to be cool was way too strong and I think I was a little sharp with people. No matter how well our singles sold, or how many times we got to perform on record daishou or Kohaku, I always thought, "There's got to be more."
The phrase 'busting my butt' fits perfectly. There was a lot I should have reflected on, like the way I was so wrapped up in myself that I couldn't listen to other people's opinions. No matter what anyone said, it all went in one ear and out the other, back then. (LOL)

If I had to compare it to something, I guess the image I'd use is of someone in full armor battling an invisible foe. But I think that that armor could only be taken off with experience, and if I hadn't had that armor on to begin with, I wouldn't have survived. I think that I am who I am today because I went through that period when I worked so hard I couldn't see anything else.

So if I could talk to my past self, I wouldn't baby her by saying, "You don't have to swagger like that." Of course, even if I did say it, I'm sure it would just go in one ear and out the other! (LOL)

In the end, I think that for me, it took my marriage and my pregnancy to take off all my armor. I think that getting away from work and supporting MAX from the outside, having that period made it easy for me to get back my true self. And that's why I'm having so much fun now just taking each job as it comes. That's why I don't get stressed about it. We've got a great atmosphere now, because we've all had different experiences so I can tell that each of us feels even more passionate about MAX than before. I'm looking forward to getting older. Now I can say that with my whole heart.

These last ten years were pretty exciting, so I don't know what will have happened in the next ten. I've never been the type to think much about the future, and I really just can't even imagine it. But I want to always feel fresh and new, and of course I'm confident that even 10 years from now, we'll still be MAX. My feelings as far as that's concerned are clearer than they ever were before.

Lately I've started to feel 'Getting older is fun.' I'll be 41 in 10 years, but I know a lot of people in their forties who are really amazing people, and that's how I want to be. What's harder for me to picture is that my eldest will be 17 then! I mean, by 17, I was a member of MAX!


Black Blenda, October 2009 issue.