This WONDERfilled Life...

Comparison is the thief of joy - the struggle to keep your eyes on your own lane... Six weeks ago I took an audition.  That's such a big, heavy word.  It's full of opportunity and pressure, validation and rejection...and in many cases it can be the difference in job "security" (is that even a thing in the music business anymore?) and having to still piece together enough gigs to pay the bills for another year...or years.  I had a teacher long ago that said the worst thing you can do to yourself is have to win a job to write your next rent check.  There's just too much at stake, and he was right! But it's also detrimental to put so much credit in 'winning' a job as a form of validation of your success as a musician.  Easier said than done of course. For years when I first was out of school I was totally focused on winning a job...which is ironic because in school I had decided I would be perfectly happy freelancing my entire career...I...

It's 6:06 PM(!) Sunday and I haven't posted week 9 yet...if I wasn't so set on crushing this challenge I would be in bed already (like I have been two other evenings this week).  I was so excited for this week's project but the excitement quickly faded when it just wasn't working out and then RSV and Bronchitis took over our household. In the last week we've had three doctors appointments and have two more tomorrow.  This is some nasty stuff.  So I'll be brief... Some of my friends know I am a big fan of meal planning.  I don't know why, but I find it to be so much easier make a meal if it's already been decided placed on our family calendar than in the moment the evening of.  I started a few years ago by making a list of our most often used meals and side dishes and would sit down once a week, look at our upcoming schedule and assign a meal that made the most sense for that day (ie things that were quicker went on days that were more hectic, m...

Remember last Sunday when I talked about out of a failure can, in fact, come success? Well I wasn't just talking "crafting".  One of the reasons I started the #52wonderfilledweeks challenge was to force myself into action.  We're all guilty of talking big talk, I have X, Y and Z plans...blah blah blah but how often do we actually take action? Not as often as we should I think.  I love thinking up ideas, and when it isn't music related for some reason I am really good at putting those ideas into action.  In fact the farther the idea is from me personally (i.e., I won't personally gain - or lose- from it) I am THE girl to put things into action.  For example I joined the local Park Advisory Council (PAC) last fall...let's keep in mind I have two small children and a full time job as a free lance hornist...and yet at the first, FIRST, meeting I ever attended I suggested and then volunteered to organize a giant holiday craft fair.  What was I thinking? Well ...