Take Time

It’s no secret that I keep a pretty busy day-to-day schedule.  I love the energy, the drive, the challenge of balancing more than one thing at a time. 

This semester, I am segmenting my work a little more, in part to make it more manageable and in part to do my best to devote my whole self to one thing at a time. 

Sunday mornings, Tuesday mornings, and Thursdays are for church; Mondays and Wednesdays are for school; Tuesday afternoons are for my studio; and Fridays and Saturdays are for lesson planning, running errands, and catching up. And recharging.

I love the opportunities I have to teach but it requires so much energy and so much of myself.  It’s important to find the time to be refilled and inspired.  Taking time to escape even just for a little while makes such a difference in the quality of my work.  I feel like I need to keep reminding myself that excellence is a journey.

Like I mentioned earlier this week, Steve and I have a sense of adventure every now and again and I love taking time to travel with him.  Often, we are only able to get away for a day or two but that’s enough of a pause for me to feel refreshed and renewed when I get back.  This is so important for my do-it-all, go-getter self. 

This weekend, Steve and I are taking a tiny road trip to upstate New York, paying a visit to our alma mater!  It’s always great to go back for a visit and you can bet that I’ll be making a beeline to the cafe with the best lemon cookies ever. 

Feeling the need to refocus?  Lacking inspiration in your work?  Take time to be refilled and refreshed this weekend.

Authenticity

Authentic.  Formally defined as genuine, trustworthy, reliable, honest, and truthful. 

In teaching, in collaborating, in my professional interactions, and in my personal life, I want to be authentic.  This is part of my commitment to excellence and being the best I can be.

I want to be GENUINE, my true self. I want to be TRUSTWORTHY and HONEST in the way I present myself and in the way I deal with people. I want to be RELIABLE by following through with what I say, being true to my commitments, and being responsible with my time. I want to stand behind my word and be TRUTHFUL in communication and action.

Maybe you’ve seen the quote circulating the blog/Pinterest world – “If you’re your authentic self, you have no competition.” – Scott Stratten/@Unmarketing.  Go out there and be your smart, successful, witty, personable, genuine, authentic self.

Silly Faces

Sometimes, we need to take time to make silly faces.  It’s important.  In the midst of those days that overwhelm you, those not-so-fun grown-up to-do lists (how many more hyphens can I add to one sentence?!), and those times when life feels way too serious, remember what it feels like to be silly and laugh at yourself.

It started out innocently enough – just trying to take a nice picture together for the background on Steve’s phone.  Obviously, one of us was feeling a little silly that day.  This is now one of my favorite pictures because it makes me laugh every time I look at it.  It reminds me to not take life too seriously, to let go of the things that don’t matter, to laugh often, and to be thankful.  We took another silly picture for my phone background so I can remind myself of these things throughout each day.  The result:

Yes, take time to be silly.

Immortal Love, Forever Full

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Well, it’s been quite a week. 

From productive meetings and back-to-back private students, two great choir rehearsals, and my first full day at Fitchburg State, “stomping out fires” and a massive amount of email, it’s been exciting and a little overwhelming at times. 

I am amazed at all of the music and teaching opportunities that are in front of me this semester but there are times when I feel incapable. “How can I keep up with all of this?” I ask myself. Perhaps I need to read this post again?

Yesterday, I took a few minutes to review a few pieces before choir rehearsal.  I turned to one of our new pieces (my favorite anthem in the folders right now)—“Immortal Love, Forever Full” (arr. Kreider—listen here). 

I was the only one in the Sanctuary and the church was quiet. . .it was so peaceful. I relished the moment of solitude. It became a moment of worship for me, playing there in the middle of the afternoon. I read the words and let the meaning sink in. A sense of calmness washed over me—just what my soul needed. “Forever shared, forever whole, a never ebbing sea!”

–

Immortal love, forever full, 
forever flowing free,
forever shared, forever whole, 
a never ebbing sea!

Our outward lips confess the name
all other names above;
love only knoweth whence it came, 
and comprehendeth love.

We may not climb the heavenly steeps
to bring the Lord Christ down;
in vain we search the lowest deeps,
for Him no depths can drown.

But warm, sweet, tender, even yet,
a present help is He; 
and faith still has its Olivet,
and love its Calvary.

The healing of His seamless dress
is by our beds of pain;
we touch Him in life’s throng and press,
and we are whole again.

The letter fails, the systems fall,
and every symbol wanes;
the Spirit over brooding all, 
eternal Love remains.

- John Greenleaf Whittier, 1856

Ready or Not

Today is my first day back to school. It’s been a mad dash to the finish line but lesson plans in hand, I’m as ready as I think I could ever be.

As most of you know by now, I’m teaching a new class this semester.

It’s exhilarating and completely intimidating all at the same time. The thought of walking into a room with 34 pairs of eyes on me is enough to send me running in the other direction. But, I spent the last three weeks practicing excellence and preparing to teach, to demonstrate, to guide, to share what I know and what I’ve learned.

Yes, I wrote this entire course in three weeks.

Some may have sketched out the first few class periods and left the rest to office hours and Friday afternoons. I wanted to see the whole semester. And by “whole semester,” I mean:

• 4 textbooks spanning almost 500 years

• 78 pages of notes

• a 4-page outline for the first class

• 52 pieces of media (30 recordings, 22 YouTube videos)

• 77 slides of images

• 2 paper assignments

• a 5-page syllabus

• 7 group project assignments

• 10 essay topics

• 14 research paper topics

• 15 quizzes

I wanted to walk in on the first day with the big picture in mind. I want to teach every day with a goal, a purpose, an objective. This is where we’re going to start and this is where we’re going.

Ready or not, let’s do this.

Excellence

Last week, I set some pretty big goals for 2012. 

They may be ambitious, but I’d rather set new lifestyle goals – habits to build into my everyday life and work – than set temporary points of achievement that can simply be crossed off my list (i.e. finish reading the book on my nightstand).  Excellence is one of those lifestyle goals.

It’s one of those things that people talk about in an idealistic, undefinable sort of way.  Sometimes, it is equated with perfection; other times, it is described as a blissful moment of achievement and arrival. 

While in music school, excellence was constantly at the forefront of my mind.  It was the expectation of my studio teachers.  It was the ideal quality of every performance.  It was the satisfaction of progress and success. 

But still, I struggled to define it.  After years of chasing the idealistic, undefinable form of excellence, I wanted more.

“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle 

As a lifestyle, I want to re-commit to excellence every day.  I want to practice excellence in the dish-washing, piano-teaching, laundry-folding, house-cleaning, course-writing, bulletin-proofing moments of life.  In pursuing this goal in my own life, these things stand true:

• Excellence is a standard I set for myself, not based on others.

• It’s the pursuit of high, artistic quality and the commitment to be the best I can be.

• It is a commitment to invest myself fully in whatever I am doing (one.thing.at.a.time).

• Along with that, it’s the simplification of what I do.  It requires me to re-focus my priorities and choose to do better at less rather than be mediocre at more (and live a life of grace).

• It is the challenge of artistry.

• Excellence is my measure of success.

I have a story about this.

Several years ago, I spent 7 months taking piano lessons from Louise Barfield. 

I was finishing my bachelor’s degree at the time and preparing for grad school auditions.  After that first 2-hour lesson on a hot, summer afternoon and not making it past my scales, I knew I had my work cut out for me.  Mediocrity and middle-of-the-road standards were not going to fly.  Truth be told, I didn’t think I could be anything more. 

One day, Louise said, “You can be as great as you want to be.  You just have to set your mind to it.”  I confess now that I didn’t wholeheartedly believe her.  Everyone can’t just go out there and be exactly what they want to be. . .or can they? 

Together, we set ambitious goals. 

I practiced more than I had in my life.  I drove two hours each way – twice a week – for 2-hour lessons.  I set my sights on getting into Eastman‘s Accompanying Program.  In February of 2008, I flew up to Rochester, NY, took an audition with the head of the department, and in a dream-come-true whirlwind was offered acceptance a few short weeks later.

Some may say that excellence is an arrival point – that Friday night phone call from the Director of Admissions – but for me, excellence is the journey – the months of dedicated, passionate work; the frustration, the tears, and the joy; the responsibility to myself to truly be the best I could be – that is the pursuit of excellence.  I didn’t know this at the time but Louise did. 

Never before had someone had such faith in me and the determination to make me recognize my own potential.

Excellence is the journey.

Go for it

Here I sit, surrounded by textbooks, paper rubrics, reading lists, and a 52-page teaching guide that I’ve compiled over the past several weeks. Can you tell I’m in the final week of writing a new course to teach this semester? It’s been a bit overwhelming at times. But, last week was very productive and I feel good about that. My class was assigned to a classroom in another building on campus – across the quad from the Fine Arts Building where I have been teaching (and will still be teaching this semester) and where my office is located. I’ve let myself get bogged down with worry: How do I get there? What does the classroom look like? What kind of technology will I be able to access? Will I be able to get in there with enough time to get everything set up before class? In addition, I’d love to have a piano in the classroom to use as a teaching aid and I knew that would only happen in the Fine Arts Building. Can you imagine? Talking about Copland’s “American” style and actually being able to play open fifths and octaves to demonstrate that signature sound. Then, I got an idea.

Why don’t I just ask to move to another classroom?

It couldn’t hurt to try. Go for it, I told myself. One email, one simple question. Within two days, my class had been successfully re-booked in a classroom with a piano in the building where I’ve been teaching (just one floor down from my office, in fact!). What a relief. . .and what a valuable lesson.

Why let yourself be consumed with worry or depressed by the dreams of “if only”? Go for it. Make the change. Ask the question. Run the risk. Take that leap. Make it happen.

The First Friday

It's 10 a.m. Friday morning.

It's the end of the first week of 2012 and the first Friday since setting these personal boundaries.  It's a great feeling.  I have several projects to tackle today but I feel refreshed and empowered to make decisions and get things done.

In fact, I felt so much better after setting boundaries for myself this week that I took things one step further - no email after dinner. 

It's just so easy to reach for my phone. . .just to see if there's anything there.  I very rarely respond to emails in the evening — I find I have much more clarity for formulating responses in the morning — so really I'm just taking on an extra burden before climbing into bed.  Who needs that?! 

I've had two successful nights of not checking my inboxes and I have to tell y'all, I haven't missed it!  It frees up my evenings for conversations, writing, and organizing my thoughts.  And, when I check my accounts in the morning, I feel ready to make those decisions (after all, each email is a decision waiting to be made, is it not?)

Here's to a quiet, productive Friday (2012, I love you already).

P.S.  I wish it looked like this outside today!  Still waiting for snow...

Setting Boundaries

This time last year, I started using TeuxDeux to keep track of my everyday and long-term to-dos. Though I really only use it when I'm at my computer, it helps me keep track of bill payments, emails, and those more involved to-dos that I don't want to include in my daily lists. For day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month planning, however, I hold on to the traditional pen and paper method. I need an agenda that lets me see the whole week at a time, that includes space in the margins for notes and reminders, and that's small enough for me to carry around on a daily basis. For all of these reasons and more I am loving my new Moleskine!

The vertical layout shows a week at a time with monthly views up front for reference. I like that it includes the hours for each day so I can easily keep track of lessons, classes, and meeting schedules. I spent part of yesterday filling in a few recurring things in preparation for the scheduling that will take place over the course of the next few weeks. Choir starts back this week, my Westminster studio starts back next week, classes at the college start the following week, and my Fitchburg studio begins the first week in February.

This semester, I have decided to set more personal boundaries on my time. I will be adhering to my work-from-home Friday rule and I am setting more boundaries for my teaching schedule in both studios. I have classes at the college on Mondays and Wednesdays this semester so my availability for my Fitchburg students will be limited to those days. Thursdays are choir days and I've found it's simply too hectic to shift gears to private lessons in the middle of the afternoon. This limits my Westminster studio availability to Tuesdays (a matter of rescheduling for three students). This schedule feels balanced and manageable when I have boundaries in place. However, it puts me in a difficult position. When I limit my availability, I run the risk of losing students.

For the past year, I've kept Monday evening students despite spending the entire day teaching at the college. I drive home, drop my things, change my clothes, and run back out to teach. I confess that I'm not the best teacher I can be on Mondays at 6 p.m. I never feel 100% up to it. I complain on the way out the door and I check my iPhone every 7 minutes to see how much more time is left in the lesson. It's not that I don't enjoy my Monday student(s) it's that I'm exhausted. I've been out teaching all day, I have quizzes to grade, and my mind is a million other places. Who does that benefit? No one. Why did I do this to myself on a weekly basis last year? Because I thought setting personal boundaries would affect enrollment. It might. But walking into a lesson with anything less than 100% readiness and attentiveness is not the right approach. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to my students.

This year, I want to make more decisions. It begins with balancing my work schedule, setting goals, and sticking to my personal boundaries.

Welcome, 2012

Happy New Year and welcome, 2012!

We celebrated the final week of 2011 with four Christmases in three states! Today, however, we are back home and back at work.

Though much of my work revolves around the academic year (September-June), there's something about the new calendar year that inspires me to set new goals, re-organize, and re-balance my priorities. It's a time to re-focus on the things that matter and start fresh. I came across a graphic recently that reminded me about the important things that don't generally make my resolution list:

Keep the faith.

Think positively even when surrounded by negativity, stay strong even in the midst of frustration and weakness, find new ways to actively build my faith throughout the year, commit to worry less. Professionally and personally, these are words I want to live by this year.

Pursue excellence.

True excellence - a standard of passionate and dedicated work, a new definition of success (more on this later).

Make more decisions.

Powerful, effective decisions. Changing the pattern of indecisiveness, learning to make decisions without seeking outside input, and collaborating with others without deferring.

The other day, I re-encountered this quote: "Indecision is the seedling of fear." - Napolean Hill.

I want 2012 to be a year of learning how to make more decisions, a year of overcoming fear, and a year of making excellent things happen.