Can we take a moment to hand it to brothers - and others - who ensure we keep going? Reading Lloyd Goodrich's short, wonderful bio of Winslow Homer, I came across this warming little ancecdote: "His first paintings, begun when he was 26, were of the war. One of the earliest showed a soldier being [...]
When you have been pursuing your passion for a long time - decades, perhaps - the present moment becomes more and more like a piece of intricate music. The more you keep going, the more colors, motifs, layers, associations, allusions, echoes, and harmonies get woven into the song. Let me give you an example of [...]
If it makes you feel worried, small, powerless, or in any way LESS (hopeful, eager, strong, passionate), it's NOT FOR YOU. If it makes you feel strong, eager, alive, expanded, empowered, or MORE yourself, it's FOR YOU. This goes for advice - solicited or unsolicited, comments, thoughts, ideas, marketing, opportunities and possibilities, and anything else [...]
Friends, we are the artists in the world at this time. Let that sink in. We are, to quote Arthur Shaughnessy, the "music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." If you're making songs, poems, paintings, dances, or anything else that was born first in your imagination and heart and then brought forth [...]
I'm thinking today that to be lucky and to know it is a double-gift - an extra-blessing. I've had two experiences lately that have impressed this upon me. Last week, I visited a wonderful school for children with severe challenges. The children depend utterly on their care-givers as none of them can walk or take [...]
What kind of fuss do you love? What's your favorite mess? I think these are great and revealing questions because they point to what you REALLY love rather than to what seems like a good idea to love. All important endeavors involve mess and fuss - the physical mess of paints or sugar or potting [...]
Here's all the gear that I hauled through the rain to the car about a week ago, then into the Groton Public Library, then back to my car, then back into the house at the end of the night. (And that's Mish sharpening his claws on the amp). The performing life is a heady mix [...]
Today I want to share with you one of the most useful things I ever learned. It came from the wise woman on the right in the photograph, my dear friend Miss Helen Finn. Near the end of her life, I visited and asked her if she was ready for a small surgery that was [...]
So far, the sweetest, warmest, and brightest moments of this holiday season have taken place at the piano. Helping a student play a carol he or she loves and witnessing the moment of connection - when the music comes into the hands and heart and mind - is delicious fun, and a great privilege. All [...]
Today I walked deep into the woods to a swampy clearing where lilies grow and beavers build dams. It's muddy and ringed with poison ivy, and it's one of my favorite places on Earth. You could hardly stand in a more breath-taking spot when the wind blows. A hawk mewed in the pine tops, [...]
