Not a Failure

When have you felt like a failure? I awoke this morning from a terrible, vivid dream. Obviously, the dream’s dystopian events are fictional, but the feelings it evoked linger like creepy-tingling nightmarish fog fingers from a supernatural horror movie. I know exactly what the dream meant: I feel like I’m failing. I feel helpless to … Continue reading Not a Failure

Weakness Isn’t Failure

Check out my new accessory: crutches. Related: my world keeps shrinking. First it was shelter-in-place. All the places I could go before the pandemic whittled away to home plus walkability. And my ongoing joy before and during SIP has been walking around our beautiful small town. Time with my husband, with my dogs, with myself, … Continue reading Weakness Isn’t Failure

Starting Over

My son flubbed another school band audition, even though he played well in the practice room just before. Nerves. Before bedtime, I told him the story of why I quit playing the piano: The last time I performed on the piano was a lovely spring day in April 1988. Fifty or so music professors, music … Continue reading Starting Over

Free to Fail

My younger son is a musician. He’s played trumpet for six years and picked up the tuba a year ago. As a high school sophomore, he registered for two music classes: Jazz and Symphonic Bands. Music is his happy place, the band room his safety zone. His private instructor also works at the school; he … Continue reading Free to Fail

Day 30

What gives when your life goes wonky? (Personal follow-up: when is my life ever not wonky?) A week after we returned from Costa Rica I heard about this great language-learning app, Duolingo. Determined to capitalize on two months of hearing and attempting to speak Spanish, I immediately installed the app on my phone and got to … Continue reading Day 30