So after a LOVELY week off for spring break, I'm now back to the hustle and bustle of the working world. I can't say I'm necessarily excited about it... but I am feeling much better about it than before break. I was feeling a bit frazzled yesterday so I bought a new planner. That always helps.

In the next ten weeks I have 5 or 6 more performances with my kids. I also have 4 or 5 more performances of my own. I know it's always been a struggle to keep up with my own muscianshp as I am teaching... but today I realized that there is good use for it. I spent the last week practicing at least 2 hours a day. I played in church Sunday and I'll be honest, it was pretty great. It's the most prepared I have felt in a long time. Something that is even more valuable though is that that kind of preparation takes your brain to a totally different level. I was joking around with some high school kids today and told them to "go their musical place". Well, I was only sort of joking. When you reach a certain level of focus and preparation it is a spacial place. Everything else happening in the world is on mute. I feel that because I visited that place recently on a personal level it is helping me to help kids understand the process.

Today I had a piano lesson with a kid I adore. I always tell her that when she learns new things on piano and has to try to get her hands to act separately she makes a face that implies her brain is splitting in half. She says that's EXACTLY what it feels like. Today we talked about why that is, and then I taught her how to avoid that and still be productive. We talked about how to take little steps and exactly how many steps it takes. We sat next to each other in silence after that as I guided her through one little section, about a million times. She stared into the music with intensity. The look on her face really resonated with me. It was not a cringed, brain-splitting expression... but a determined, unwavering focus. Our silence was not tense, but appreciated. I could tell that her world was on mute. After a significant stretch of time I smiled at her and she broke her gaze. "You did it" I said. She replied with a grin, "I know".