When I was 9, I started lessons on my very first musical instrument – the piano. Thing was, having two competitive siblings play the same instrument wasn’t the best idea, especially when one (my brother) was several years ahead of the other (me).
When I was 10, I started playing the flute. Â I didn’t really choose it. It just happened to be the other instrument my music instructor taught. I guess you could say the flute chose me.
So I went for it. (more…)
There’s a magical moment toward the beginning of my day. It’s my first sip of freshly-ground, freshly-brewed coffee – a delightful blend of Sumatra Iskandar and Decaf Ethiopian with a splash of fabulous creamer (like International Delight’s Almond Joy. So good.). It’s that moment one second after I wonder if I’ve got the right balance of strength and creamer.
There are moments of our lives like that too, when we’re dancing on the edge of something incredible. We hesitate, two seconds away from venturing into it, delicious anticipation dancing on our tongues. (more…)
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately with the Wooster family – Raphael, Jake, and Isabella. To be honest, Raphael is my favorite. We just get along so well. He looks a little something like this:
That’s right. Just when you started to think I might be kinda normal, I tell you I’ve named my paintbrushes. To be honest, it’s one of the only ways I can stay sane with all the painting I’ve been doing. (And yes, the fancy paintbrushes are worth the price. No lie. Invest, people.) (more…)
I’ve always been a creative person. I’m enamored with color and design and imagination. I see things differently from a lot of people. As a kid, it was frustrating. Why couldn’t math just magically make sense to me? Why wasn’t my first reaction to see the logical solution? Why was my answer to a question always so different from everyone else’s?
Growing up in a family of left-brained people, I thought there was something wrong with me. So I put my creativity in the closet, treating it like that winter coat you use only when you need it but ignore during the other seasons.
Over the years, I’ve slowly come to accept my creativity, to open the closet and let my dominant right hemisphere roam freely. And a big part of that process was a book – A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. It was therapy for me. (more…)
It snuck in the door, buzzing like a chainsaw. The monstrous thing dive-bombed me, hissing a scream as it got closer. I cringed and ducked as it powered toward the kitchen light. I wondered whether the killer insect would sting or bite.
My husband stepped back inside. “There’s a bug in here,” I said, as if commenting on the weather, trying to pretend I hadn’t pondered barricading myself in the closet. “It’s by the light.”
We looked. There was nothing there.
“Eh, it was probably just a moth.”
He would live to regret those words. (more…)