Where are you?

Christmas Day musings...

A day of remembering, dreaming, and just "being"...

So where are you?

We work hard, we push hard, we go go go...the holidays have taken on that insanity too - and often as performers, it is our busiest time of year...

Do you have time, or can/will you make time to be still and consider where you are? How far you've come? Where you are going?

As artists, we want to be better than our previous selves. We want to explore the possibilities. Dare we just sit and ENJOY where the "self" is today? Dare we just sit and know the possibilities are being realized? Dare we recognize the contributions we have made to our lives and those lives around us?

Often, as artists, and performers, we are not aware of the profound affect we have on others.

Those of us who do the 8 show week, the tour, the ongoing "in repertory" et al - the concert schedule...the 800 Messiahs...this is our work; this is our day job; this is not "extra"!!

Just like any day job, it can get fatiguing, gruelling, and it loses its excitement quickly...

I am reminded of a story that my husband told me about Robert Shaw as he spoke to his chorus before a performance of Bach's B minor Mass: "Tonight, there are people in the audience who will hear the Mass for the very first time...and there are people who will hear it for the very last time..."

This has always resonated deeply for me. The profound affect of what we do as artists and performers, and what we stand for, can last a lifetime! We are responsible for something larger than a day job! What we have been gifted with and have developed, and continue to journey with, can change lives...

So, as we enjoy the season - take a moment to know where you are. See what you have accomplished. See where you've come from. Settle in. Rejoice in that knowledge. Our journey is ongoing, but it's okay once in a while to smile and say "I'm okay!", "I DO make a difference".

We need to wrap ourselves up in our possibilities and our realities. We need to hold our journey close to ourselves. We need to KNOW we make a difference - in our own lives, and in the lives around us.

We need to laugh a little, enjoy our own company a little, enjoy our friends and family a little and realize where we are is PRECISELY where we need to be. Wishing away, is not the same as dreaming for.

Be still and know you are enough. Know you bring a difference. Know your journey is further than it was. Know your journey continues, and so does your artistry.

Know you are HERE. And you came from THERE. That is movement, that is enough.

Take a deep breath and BE.

Happy Holidays everyone.