tally sheets

Found this article compliments of Dr. Chris Foley's twitter feed, who is a faculty member at the Royal Conservatory.  He tweets awesome stuff so if you're a musician and you're on twitter, you should totally follow him.  He also has a collaborative piano blog which is completely awesome and totally legit.  He is, in a manner of speaking, the real deal.

And sometime in the last 24 hrs he tweeted an article that links to the blog of composer Aaron Gervais, who is also completely awesome and totally legit.  I highly recommend the article below, as it is fantastic food for thought for musicians of all kinds -- composers, performers, and teachers alike.  Not to mention parents and mentors of starving artists (cue Mom haha!).

"Why Composers Should Drop Out of University, etc..."

I could seriously spend all day reading his stuff, because his philosophical views on the arts are so right on the money -- balanced, yet realistic.

I'm still lost on the whole whether to go back to school issue or not.  Unfortunately there seems to be a tally sheet in my head of "Reasons to Go To Grad School" and "Reasons Not to Go Back So Soon" and both sides are continually tied, leaving my brain in a perpetual state of indecision.  Awesome.

But what I do know is this (taken from our sermon at Central today):  "So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, you sin." (James 4:17)

Or better yet [paraphrased]:  If you know the good you should do, then go and do it for Heaven's sake!

My sermon notes tell me to regularly sit down for 10 mins, breathe, think of all the things that I know I need to be doing (things that are good for me and for others... things that are healthy and proactive and productive and beneficial), make a list, and then go do them.  I think it's a fabulous idea.  Our pastor is a genius.  Or the Lord just tells him exactly what to say to get through to my restless heart.  Thank God he does the good he knows to do :)

And even though everything is nice and gray and unclear right now concerning my future, what is clear is that I need to continually practice.  Because it makes me feel good and enables me to be a better pianist/teacher/collaborative artist.  It is so easy to get caught up in everything else I'm doing as a musician trying to eek out a living and ignore my own stuff.  So here's to practicing and not worrying too much about school... at least for another day or two.

- To find Dr. Chris Foley's collaborative piano blog, click here:  http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com/
- To find Aaron Gervais' music philosophy and composition blog, click here:  http://aarongervais.com/