March 2020

Every day, we make thousands of tiny choices. 

We choose what to wear, what to eat, what to say, how to respond to the changing world around us. We make decisions in music and teaching, what to write, what to play, what to focus on.

We are inundated with options and possibilities, a dizzying array of information and ideas.

We feel an obligation to make the "right" choices, a responsibility to make choices quickly and efficiently, to be decisive and smart.

Cue the line from the 2003 movie Freaky Friday:

In his book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown explained:

“We often think of choice as a thing. But a choice is not a thing. Our options may be things, but a choice — a choice is an action. It is not just something we have but something we do . . . . We may not always have control over our options, [but] we always have control over how we choose among them.”

Last week, we entered into the season of Lent — a time of stripping away, reflecting, simplifying. A time to turn down the noise, and evaluate who we are, what we value, where we can make a difference, and what’s most important.

I explored some of these concepts on the blog and podcast this past month, as they relate to our work as musicians and educators: 

• the power to choose what kind of musician and teacher you want to be;

• determining the legacy you want to create;

• choosing what’s essential to creating meaningful learning experiences;

• and deciding to simplify and try something new this year.

Here's to creating some margin this month and making choices with a renewed sense of purpose.

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