Sun

I saw the sun yesterday!
For the first time in....I don't know how long. It had been weeks. I hadn't seen the sun in weeks.
I had a rough day yesterday. It started out rough, and then it all went downhill from there.
But then at the end of the school day, something good happened. 40 minutes of good. And as I was walking to my car afterwards, the sun came out!!
Coincidence? Unlikely.
The sun was so pretty that I just had to stand there and look at it for a little while.
And then everything seemed a little lighter. 40 minutes of good followed by a little glimpse of sunshine.
And then things started looking up.
I listened to Brahms Requiem.
I Skyped with one of my best friends.
I received a loving comment from someone I care about and respect.
I read about Gregorian chant.
I talked to my Mom. (Hadn't talked to her in awhile.)
I played my ukulele AND my guitar.
And I read about Giulio Cesare.

So, at the end of the day, I had more minutes of good than minutes of bad.

And now I think about yesterday as being a "good" day.

Thank goodness for sun.
Thank goodness for minutes of good.
We'll try again next week.

My life is so unfair

Why is it unfair, do you ask?
Because it is too good.
Don't deserve it, but it is so good all of the time.
Even when it isn't.

....

It has nothing to do with being a Mormon girl.

Voice lessons

I love voice lessons. Who even thought I would say that ever again? I was just so frustrated with singing by the end of last year, I didn't even like it anymore.
I absolutely love my teacher, Dr. Diane Reich-she knows exactly what she is talking about and she knows how to explain it to me. When I don't get it the first time, she can explain it to me in a different way until I do.
She doesn't yell, she is so patient. But not so patient that I have no drive--I have more drive than I have had in a long time.
I am learning so much from her teaching, ---I have made substantial progress and I have only been studying with her for a few months. The first few months were rocky and a little scary, but now I understand her and I know what her goals for me are.

Singing has never felt better or easier than it does right now. I feel like I am just climbing, climbing, climbing. I know that it isn't going to be that way forever, but right now it just makes me so happy.

At first, Dr. Reich didn't really give me a lot of positive feedback--she was just so focused on changing my sound, and fixing this, and tweaking that, and getting me to do this other thing. So I felt like I wasn't progressing, I felt like I wasn't getting any better and like I wasn't doing anything she wanted me to do.

And then I had this lesson where she just said, "Okay, can you HEAR that? Can you hear how much progress you have made and are still making?"
The sudden acknowledgment of the progress made my whole life. It really did, and then it just made me want to work that much harder for the next week.

I had my first lesson of the semester today, and I was nervous for it. Just because I didn't practice as much as I should have over Christmas break. And the young artist competition (if that's even what they're called) are this week. So I was just a little worried.
BUT Once again, Dr. Reich was so patient and just opened me up and she even said I had a gorgeous sound.
:D
ME! She said that about me! About my voice! And she is the kind of woman who would not say that unless she meant it. She doesn't just give empty compliments, she means everything she says.

It's silly how much that little boost can just make me feel driven for the rest of the week--for the rest of the semester, even. So I'm so excited for this semester. I'm so excited for the progress that I am making. And I am so grateful for Dr. Reich and for Aurelia (who is my fantastic accompanist/vocal coach). I am so happy that I get to work with them.

I am in the right place. Sometimes I forget about that. But I am. I chose the right school, and I am where I need to be. Hallelujah.

Out with the old, in the with the new

Well, I told you nothing about my first semester of Grad school.
I'll do that sometime.
But.
I just want everyone to know that I am done with holding on to old things.
I am over it. I am done. I am in a new place, with new people, and a new life.
And it is time for me to start living that way.

That's all I have for the day.
My new semester starts tomorrow, and I am excited to start it with no old things.

BAM.

The Wayfaring Stranger

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
I'm traveling through this world of woe
Yet there's no sickness, toil nor danger
In that bright land to which I go
I'm going there to see my mother/father
I'm going there no more to roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is rough and steep
Yet golden fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed shall ever sleep
I'm going there to see my father/mother
S/he said he'd/she'd meet me when I come
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I want to wear a crown of glory
When I get home to that good land
I want to shout salvation's story
In concert with the blood-washed band

I'm going there to meet my Saviour
To sing his praise forever more
I'm just a going over Jordan
I'm just a going over home

Everyone Sang

Everyone Sang

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on--on--and out of sight.

Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away . . . O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)