“Letting go” is hardly a surprising topic for a yoga blog. But for the conductor? Now there’s an interesting exploration. Letting go is central to yoga and other wisdom practices. We sit on the mat and focus on our breathing, letting go with each exhale. We consider the words of poets and sages, of scripture […]
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Beginnings: Establishing Systems for a Smoothly Run Music Ministry
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear This humbling and empowering quote is from a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. From my experience, life is easier when systems are in place. For example, keeping an apartment, house, or workspace organized […]
Difficult Conversations: A Path Toward Positive Outcomes
By Alex Gartner Let’s play a game. The rules are simple: hold up five fingers. Ready? Put a finger down if you’ve ever received a scathing email. Put a finger down if you’ve ever been yelled at over the phone. Put a finger down if a parent or supervisor has raised their voice in your […]
The Conductor as Yogi: The Illusion of “Done”
We are list makers, task accomplishers, and detail managers. We juggle between our professional and personal lives, never really stopping for long because there is always one more item on the list, one more email to send, one more errand to run. When we finish that, we think, then we will be “done.” The only […]
Raise Your Voice: Wild September
This is the fourth post in a monthly series: https://choralnet.org/archives/661159 Wow! It’s mid-September. That happened so fast! I hope your initial choir rehearsals are going well and that there is a lot of positive energy around the beginning of the season. If you’ve been following along with this blog, then you have likely already begun […]
Beginnings: Relationships, trust, and social change
“Relationships are built at the speed of trust, and social change happens at the speed of relationships.” (Rev. Jennifer Bailey) This is the third quote that’s guiding many of my actions this year. I’ve only served as Director of Music Ministries for about a month. As a new staff member, building solid relationships in the […]