What if...

What if...

  


What if something really amazing was just about to happen?

What if you were stronger than you thought?

What if it was safe to open up your heart?

What if it was safe to take that risk?

What if it was happening FOR you,  not TO you?

What if you let go of the emotional charge around the money?

What if you just focussed on one thing until it was complete?

What if you focused on creation instead of completion?

What if you allow a greater infusion of creativity to enter your life right now?

Do you hide your creative ideas?

Kandinsky - try interpreting this as a music score!

I've been using modern works of art as stimulus for music-making for over 15 years. 

In fact, didn't know anyone else who did this...until a couple of weeks ago!  I didn't share much of what I did with art...I think because I was a bit afraid of criticism from other teachers.

While studying at the Orff Institute I re-discovered my "tribe"!

First, at the Orff Symposium (held at the Mozarteum) then at the Orff Institute, I met two people who do the EXACT same things with the art that I do! (and I thought I'd made all this weird respond-to-art-stuff up!)

1. One professor uses the art as a score for beginning violin players...so cool...and I do this too!
2. The other (Monika Unterholzner, a dance teacher) uses the art to stimulate creative movement ideas for child-created choreography.
3. I also use it with my baby programs and preschool programs.  We "read" the lines and dots with our fingers tracking along and vocalize. The children LOVE it and the parents think it's so creative.

Read more about creativity at my favorite blog Colour Me Happy.  Maria has some great posts on creativity here and my favorite one ever...here.

 

Sir Ken Robinson entertains us again!

 

Sir Ken Robinson - an 11 minute animated talk...interesting and fun to watch!


Such great thoughts on education and how we can begin to improve our education systems by incorporating aesthetic education (education through the arts!)

Victory...depression...they're all just feelings...so it must be a job for Super-God

So...just a few weeks ago someone suggested to me that I should seriously consider working at McDonald's because I'd actually make more money per hour if I did.  I thought after all these years I would have a thicker skin about the money comment but I found myself looking at my life and wondering what I'd done with it.

I began to feel quite depressed.  My thoughts were draining my energy.  I had to shift my focus.

Shortly after that I remembered that wonderful TEDtalks video by Taylor Mali and watched it  (three times quickly in a row!)

What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali  

This video is guaranteed to give a teacher that elusive !VICTORY! feeling.

Starting a blog

I'm excited to be writing again.  I've been so busy the last few years moving my music studio (twice!) and getting married (once!) and moving house (twice!) that my regular routines of researching and creating kind of fell by the wayside.

All those life changes and upheavals have meant 7-day music teaching work weeks at 12-15 hours per day minimum...this working with young children really is front-end loaded!

I've been feeling a little tired lately and realized I needed to re-charge my creative teaching self.  So...I'm taking some time away from teaching this summer...off I go to yoga, the gym, the beach, spend time with my husband, take some naps and the start of a blog.  

I have never blogged before...but it seems like something my personality might like (a brain that won't let go of an idea, a mind that thinks constantly of what's next, a love of people and writing, not caring about the money...I recently read that you shouldn't blog to make money because you won't make any!)  Check out  Penelope Trunk's Guide to Blogging.