Facing the Music with Karen Eastlund

Hello and Happy Spiritual Journey Thursday! Today it is my pleasure to welcome Karen, who is guest-posting on the topic of MUSIC. After her post I will add my comments... and you will find a place to leave your link!

Welcome, Karen!
"I have always loved music, but had only dabbled in it over the years. Now, with retirement time available, I decided to dig in. Wouldn’t this be fun?

I chose my choir director and friend as my piano teacher. He is absolutely dedicated to music. I knew I could work with him. Then lessons began and it became clear that I would have serious work ahead of me.

This past lesson I had worked very hard over a challenging piece. I went into the lesson somewhat apprehensive, and offered a shaky rendition. Although carefully worded, my teacher’s message was clear: I may have been well prepared technically, but I was not making music. Ouch… It hurt, but I knew it was true.

We all have times when we need to face hard truths, but do we face them? Do we accept responsibility when we mess up? Do we ask forgiveness when we’ve been mean or stingy? Have we been careful to examine the truth? Do we focus on our own faults or do we pick on others?

Karen's grands

For Christians, this is the season of Lent. It is a time of preparation for Easter, of self-examination, repentance, prayer and atonement. The music during this season is often minor, and the hymns point us to the torment of Holy Week. Are we willing to face this music?

It may seem odd, but I need to hear the sadness. I need to feel the lows as well as the highs. I need to grapple with the truth about my life, about my piano playing, and about my faith story in order to grow.

We all have seasons in our spiritual lives, and those seasons vary in tone. I am very grateful for the nuances, even though I have to admit that life is not always fun. It requires work, and it requires us to search for the truth. My prayer for you is that you are able to face whatever music life is dishing up for you. I hope you can work through your sad times, and that you will come to a time of rejoicing.

Blessings to each of you!

Karen

P.S. - I was able to play duets with my grandkids yesterday. Sure, we made numerous mistakes, and maybe a connoisseur would not call it music, but I thought it was great fun."

-----

Thank you, Karen! As a practicing cellist, music is an important part of my life. It challenges me, frustrates me, feeds me. I love practicing. I love how I feel when the music flows through me -- you really do use your whole body to play the cello. I love learning new ways to create the sound I'm seeking. Recently I've been learning a couple of Bach's Minuet's from Suzuki book 4. They are gorgeous -- and the first time for me to play a piece without accompaniment. Scary!

Sometimes my perfectionism gets in the way of my enjoyment of the cello. I can be really hard on myself. My teacher will say SHE is supposed to be the tough one, not me! I am learning to love my music, mistakes and all. Truly, I believe this is my life's journey: learning to love myself, dark spots smudges mishaps bad decisions and all. Which is really another way to say I am learning to let myself be human. Why is this so hard?

We're not the only one who love making music. On mine and Charles' recent visit to East Grand Rapids Middle School, I met several young cellists, one of who was nearly in the same place in the Suzuki books as me! I also met a young pianist named Hania, who gave me permission to share her lovely poem with all of you!

Piano
by Hania

keys
can create such amazing
beautiful

Hania

boisterous
music
black and white
doesn't matter which key
you tackle
they all speak
and sing
in their own way
black and white keys
together
create magic
a story
music
on that one piano
one small portion
of the world
if black and white keys
create such amazing things
together
why can't we?
together
black and white
together.
------

Thank you, Hania! SJT friends, please leave your links below!