Deliberate Day 30

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a concert at the David Marr Auditorium in my hometown. The high school orchestra and symphony (along with some excellent participants from a local middle school’s advanced symphony) performed a special fundraising concert in honor of an alumni student and former symphony member who, at the young age of 18 yrs., suffered a stroke following an injury to his head. This group of young people performed SOOO beautifully I actually found myself wishing the evening of phenomenal music would not end!

Thinking about how I wanted some of those musical moments to "last forever," I watched as many of these teens receive their “final concert” roses from their beloved director. It struck me that all too soon the music would end for some and I found myself wondering how many of the students really had performed their last concert? How many of them would go on to college or careers and pack their flutes, violins, saxophones away in storage like many adults had probably done? That led me to kind of glancing around and wondering about those of us in the audience.  How many of us were once up on a stage playing our instrument(s) and/or performing in a vocal ensemble when we were teens only to realize that, as adults, that's all just part of our “history”?

Why is this? Why do we stop singing, playing, performing? Why do we cease to do those things that brought us joy as a child?

I can remember getting up early every day because I was part of a small ensemble in high school. We had a “0” period and couldn’t wait to get there.  I never had trouble getting out the door early Monday through Friday because we had the greatest director (EVER!) and we had a great sound as a group – if I do say so myself and ... WE all loved singing!

So what is it that happens when we graduate high school (or college) that causes us to put away those things we used to really love to do? Granted, there may have been a few kids on stage last night that performed because their parents “forced” them to be in band, learn an instrument, practice-practice-practice! But from the expressions on pretty much EVERY face it appeared to me that these kids were loving this concert as much as – if not more than – those of us sitting in the “awe”dience listening. One young man (who I have learned received quite a hefty music scholarship to help him in his college pursuits) seemed to be one with his flute … he was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I wondered if he'll still be playing, composing, etc., in ten years?  Since this is his major course of future study I'm hoping the answer will be yes!  But will it?   

And will these other kids live their dreams or will they get caught up in the buy, owe, work to keep up cycle?  Not that music has to be their thing but ... will they do what they love and love what they do?  Or will they get caught up in a viscious cycle of working to keep their heads above water and go to work everyday wishing they were doing something else?  Worse yet, will they be thirty or forty years older and forget what it was they used to love to do??

Not answering the question today - just thinking "outloud" ...

Deliberately

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydj0ijAr2vw