Time flies! When I was little people told me this would happen but I didn’t believe them. Yet here we are, in March already. Wasn’t it just summer a minute ago, or at least December?

I’ve been trying to do it all, and like I said in my last post, not necessarily succeeding. But I am in a place right now where I’m not exactly sure what I want to focus on, and I don’t have something going on that I want to give up, so I am going to keep at it! I really just need to work on managing stress and not getting overwhelmed. They say it isn’t about practicing anyway. I often end up underestimating how long things take and therefore end up having a bit more time than I expect.

I’m missing a regular workout routine though. As the weather is getting warmer, I really ought to try to get up just a bit earlier and get out for a run or something like that. I think that would help me feel more relaxed and better able to manage all of this.

I am looking forward to a little vacation soon. Louie and I are heading to New York (with a  side trip to Philadelphia) for about a week soon, so that will be a nice break.

And everything usually turns out just fine. I had a studio recital over the weekend—18 kids played, and I was naturally pretty stressed out about it, but it turned out GREAT and I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on their performances. I often feel like my students aren’t getting the accolades that other people’s students are, but the truth is that I’m not pushing that sort of thing. I’m pushing them to enjoy the violin, to play as well as they can, and to be well rounded happy individuals. I have quite a lot of early intermediate students right now, which isn’t a level that brings many accolades, but they are doing pretty well, and the guy at the shop helping me host the recital said it seemed that my students enjoyed performing and all stood up straight and looked happy, and that was a bit unusual to see. I’ll take it!

I have to keep remembering, even in my advanced age, to look at where I am, what I’m doing, and not worry about what I think other people think I should be doing, or what other people think I should be doing (those are two different things.) I want to be happy with me.

I’m off to a lunch meeting, then teaching, then a jazz show tonight! The next three days are all-consuming with work as I’m playing a short run of Chicago, and trying to squeeze in some teaching and band rehearsal too. But I’m going to keep my head up, remind myself that I’m good enough, even if I’m creating my own path and career.