Where am I . . . ?
Once again, I am struggling to keep up with my life. I'm grateful that July is nearly here, because other than one 9-day stretch, I don't have too much to do. That stretch will be a doozy, however :-D
My big excitement in July will be Bagpipe School. I can't help but think of it as Bagpipe Camp, though, because I actually went to Bagpipe Camp once when I was a beginning piper.
Who starts piping as a 40-year-old? Me. I shared my story here last year, so I won't repeat it now, but since I started studying with Ian again in May via Skype, I am more focused and have more desire to play and play well, than ever before.
I'm not kidding. I'm even playing the exercises better than I did 10 years ago when I was last in SoCal. What's more, I LIKE playing them. I am well and truly a musical dork :-D
I have been reading a book for work called The Outliers. In it, it talks about 10,000 hours of practice to master pretty much anything, and I think about all the time I wasted in the last 6 years not playing . . . I know that everything happens in our lives for a reason, and I rarely have regrets about anything - but I really wish I had been playing all that time. I would have logged that 10,000 by now and more.
Still - you never know, had I been playing all this time, I might not be finding the joy that I'm finding now that I have purpose again where music is concerned.
Joy and purpose - a recurring theme in my life. Thanks, Mom :-)
And here I am, thinking about competing next year. Ian seems to think that if I keep practicing the way have been, that I will be able to compete next year. This, of course, means that my ass will be covered in plaid . . . I am heartened however, by my most recent trip to the Highland Games a few weeks ago - mine will NOT be the largest plaid ass in view, that's for sure.
And as I look back at my post from last year at this time, I see that I was thinking about Bagpipe Camp even then . . . and then, last weekend I talked with a piping and knitting friend, and she really encouraged me to see if I could find a way to work it out. Permission from my boss and my work to get time without pay, flights, money, was there even space left in class? I didn't really think it could work - and yet, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, Monday morning, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I ran it up the flagpole . . . and then stood back and watched as every single detail fell into place this week so that I can go. I sent it out to the Universe, and the Universe sent it back to me. In spades.
Because of where I'm at right now in my playing - nothing could be better than a week of all bagpipes all the time. I'm not kidding.
I remember very clearly my week studying with the late Lindsay Kirkwood. He really had an impact on me, and my playing took a quantum leap in that focused period of time at Bagpipe Camp. I'm reasonably sure it will do that again with a week with Ian and Colin. Will I be the oldest one there? Quite possibly. Do I care? Hell no.
And so, rather than wait, I fired up the actual pipes. I've been working consistently on my practice chanter - but now that I'm going to have to keep up in class and with other pipers, I have got to build enough stamina to be able to do so. It's going to be a challenging few weeks here, Chez A
So, please excuse me, I have to go practice (i.e., I cannot wait any longer) ;-)
I'm so excited!!!!
My big excitement in July will be Bagpipe School. I can't help but think of it as Bagpipe Camp, though, because I actually went to Bagpipe Camp once when I was a beginning piper.
Who starts piping as a 40-year-old? Me. I shared my story here last year, so I won't repeat it now, but since I started studying with Ian again in May via Skype, I am more focused and have more desire to play and play well, than ever before.
I'm not kidding. I'm even playing the exercises better than I did 10 years ago when I was last in SoCal. What's more, I LIKE playing them. I am well and truly a musical dork :-D
I have been reading a book for work called The Outliers. In it, it talks about 10,000 hours of practice to master pretty much anything, and I think about all the time I wasted in the last 6 years not playing . . . I know that everything happens in our lives for a reason, and I rarely have regrets about anything - but I really wish I had been playing all that time. I would have logged that 10,000 by now and more.
Still - you never know, had I been playing all this time, I might not be finding the joy that I'm finding now that I have purpose again where music is concerned.
Joy and purpose - a recurring theme in my life. Thanks, Mom :-)
And here I am, thinking about competing next year. Ian seems to think that if I keep practicing the way have been, that I will be able to compete next year. This, of course, means that my ass will be covered in plaid . . . I am heartened however, by my most recent trip to the Highland Games a few weeks ago - mine will NOT be the largest plaid ass in view, that's for sure.
And as I look back at my post from last year at this time, I see that I was thinking about Bagpipe Camp even then . . . and then, last weekend I talked with a piping and knitting friend, and she really encouraged me to see if I could find a way to work it out. Permission from my boss and my work to get time without pay, flights, money, was there even space left in class? I didn't really think it could work - and yet, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, Monday morning, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I ran it up the flagpole . . . and then stood back and watched as every single detail fell into place this week so that I can go. I sent it out to the Universe, and the Universe sent it back to me. In spades.
Because of where I'm at right now in my playing - nothing could be better than a week of all bagpipes all the time. I'm not kidding.
I remember very clearly my week studying with the late Lindsay Kirkwood. He really had an impact on me, and my playing took a quantum leap in that focused period of time at Bagpipe Camp. I'm reasonably sure it will do that again with a week with Ian and Colin. Will I be the oldest one there? Quite possibly. Do I care? Hell no.
And so, rather than wait, I fired up the actual pipes. I've been working consistently on my practice chanter - but now that I'm going to have to keep up in class and with other pipers, I have got to build enough stamina to be able to do so. It's going to be a challenging few weeks here, Chez A
So, please excuse me, I have to go practice (i.e., I cannot wait any longer) ;-)
I'm so excited!!!!
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