I have to be honest, the last 7 days of my life have been a whirlwind of up and down emotions. The best moments included seeing my cousin while she was here visiting friends and sharing my house with one of my best friends. One of the nights included MPE cooking an amazing meal.
The last couple days have been one relentless beating of life challenges after another. Today, I about cried 3 different times and the tears rolled down my face at least twice. Yes, I am a very sensitive female, yes the moon is full, yes I want everyone to just get along, and yes, even at 30, I want to feel love, value, and appreciation and seek it in the validation of others. I am human and I love myself and 90% of the time I am kicking butt at moving forward, but some days I just want a hug.
I’ve been pushing for positive interactions at YMI (Young Musician Initiative) and helping kids recognize how to be nicer to each other. I am also trying to emulate this for them. Knowing that I have had a bad day but I take a moment to tell a kid that I love their sparkly sweater or shoes, or their noticing their haircut connects me with them. It also makes leading them in music that much better. It also makes them want to talk to me and trust me and that above all is priceless.
In order to keep our number up in the spring time, I’ve offered to have a YMI Run for the Zoo training program. It started at the school, without warning on Monday, so we started on Tuesday and really ran our first mile today. We have about 15 min (give or take a few on any given day) to get our run in 4 days a week. Knowing that good rehearsals lead to early recess mean we may have more time to get more miles in. It is definitely a great accountability moment when (8) 3-5th graders know you are training for a marathon while helping them train for a 5k!
I am also taking a few kids to the ABQ Flute Fiesta . They had to submit an essay to me about WHY they want to go. An essay for some elementary school kids includes lines like:
“Playing the flute makes me really happy”
” I want to meet other people who enjoy playing the flute as much as I do”
“My flute teacher’s name is Ms. Danielle and she’s nice and sweet.”
“I want to be better at my flute and play my solo”
These moments melt my heart and are exactly what I need for days like these.
My night of teaching ended with a rehearsal of a freshman and her pianist (a junior) on the Presto section of Enesco’s Cantabile et Presto. First rehearsal can be rough, but these two ladies capped my night of with a smile. I could not believe how prepared they both were. They made piecing together moments that can be quite disastrous painless and I LEARNED from them.
Thank the universe for the harmonious creation we get to experience. While dodging stress on our little ball of a planet, the moments that matter most are the ones we share in kindness and love.
