End of January 2007, I kissed my life in upstate New York goodbye. My kids all grown up in South Florida and Seattle, my body aching, my future in a dark storm cloud looming directly over me, I realized nothing made sense any longer. I signed over the apartment lease, gave the cat and plants new homes, divided my stuff between Salvation Army and storage, and drove out of state for a year of reflection and regrouping. That really was the plan: a twelve-months’ sabbatical with exposure to new places and people, to recharge the battery, come back to Upstate and put all that newness in place for the next stage in my life: the golden years! As I crossed the border into Pennsylvania and waved New York goodbye, I knew I would never live there again. In one flash, my neatly planned sabbatical became a pilgrimage. Destiny: unknown, Goals: keep breathing Obligations: one and one only: connect with my core and find out what it wants, without the comfort of income, ruts to...
If you want to take a hard look at your life and plot your future, look at how you came to be where you are now. Go into your past to find your future. Easily said, but where to start or how to go about that? The real motivators behind our significant decisions often hide behind routine explanations. Incident by incident they help us slip through the escape doors we invent to justify our actions. If your autobiography has to produce honest answers, you have to find honest questions. What do you want from it? Analysis? The red line through your life’s story? The helicopter view? The out-of body-experience? The way forward? If you're done with the popular chronological format, may I invite you to rearrange the order? Organize the events in your life in different context. Here are a few examples: List all the schooling, that is all education, continued education, mentoring, self-study you have done over the years. Include all the reasons why you engaged i...
What or who would I be without music? Would I even want to know that person? Would I recognize myself? As a child and teenager I played the piano, until I moved to Amsterdam and found myself without one. Gradually, I became a listener, the person who enjoys, and hums along. I appreciate, and yes, sometimes judge and choose music by performers who give their soul. You can feel that they do. No pomp. No showing off, although I respect the time, effort, and discipline that make these performances possible. I rather be transported than impressed. I want to “feel” the composer and the composition. I want to “feel” every musician, even the little triangle in the back of the orchestra. YouTube is my friend. I love simply browsing, or searching for forgotten pieces or pieces never heard before. My favorite is looking for different performances of the same composition. Each performer and conductor brings his/her unique interpretation. Each performanc...
Comments
Post a Comment