How to Recover from a Practice Break?

I have been away for a while (trips to China and Italy). Now I’m back and in the midst of summer camps. I have fit a few of my studio lesson students into my schedule as I could. I found that most of them, if not just about all of them, took a break when I was not around. This put an enormous burden of responsibility on my shoulders, because the clear message that I got from this realization was that if I did not offer lessons every week, then my students or their parents did not take on the responsibility of maintaining a practice schedule on their own. In other words, if I am not here to monitor them or provide a reason to practice, then the practice did not happen because my students and their practicing partners could not do this for themselves.

Well, that is no fun for me! I had other thoughts about this phenomenon as well. How come there is such a mismatch of expectations? Why are our belief systems about lessons and music education so different? Are everyone’s lives so very busy that a simple practice schedule cannot be followed? But, this is probably a different article than the one I wanted to write here.

I understand completely the need to “take a break.” I have those same thoughts myself. Mostly I have discovered that when I have that feeling, I may merely need to make a change in what I do. I find that a change is a better plan than stopping what I do completely. For example, if I am complacent (a much better word than tired or bored!) about a particular healthy breakfast that I eat every day, I find it serves me better not to stop eating a healthy breakfast but to substitute another healthy meal in its place. If I want to maintain a writing habit, then I change up what I write about.

If I am complacent about my practicing or schedule, then I will keep up the practicing (and maybe the schedule) but change the makeup of what I do. I will substitute in some different style of music for my usual fare. Rather than a dry diet of etudes, I might add in some popular music or some fiddle tunes. I might practice my reading skills by playing new music or playing chamber music with some friends.

There are other things to try as well, such as inviting other musical friends over for a music party. Have a pool party and play-in or a friendly barbecue with other families. One of my students set up a special recital and made plans to perform many pieces that required her to practice quite a bit. Another student signed up to attend the local institute, and she has been busy practicing her orchestra music and reviewing her list of institute pieces. Other students attended summer strings camps and practiced for the orchestra placement auditions. Other students have signed up to perform for school events that happen at the beginning of the fall semester. Others have practiced to play for special performances at nursing homes or charity events. There are many possibilities rather than taking a break.

Of course, there are the unavoidable life events. The family might take a trip that may be too dangerous to take a violin along. One family wisely left the instrument at home, and later suffered a wild horse stampede through their campsite. Good thing the violin was safely at home. Even in circumstances like this, there may still be some other options to consider. When there is a passing of a relative or close friend in the family, the student might be willing to participate in the memorial services. Sometimes the act of maintaining a practice schedule helps the family to “hold it together.” I still remember vividly the day of 9/11 when one by one my students arrived at the studio throughout the day (I had been teaching the morning of the tragic event). As each parent poked his or her head in the studio door to ask if I was teaching that day, the parents and I would look at each other with that sad knowledge that the world had changed in a big way, while the act of teaching and learning continued its regular course in the perspective of the students. This was the best gift that my parents and I could give the students (and ourselves) at the time.

So how does one recover from a practice “break”? This seems like a silly question, except that the summer is half over, more so for some of us since school resumes in a few weeks here in the South. Whatever we have not accomplished by this point needs to be addressed now. I have written about this subject before (Getting Started After a Break, The Summer Challenge). Here are a few suggestions:

Listen to repertoire pieces daily, old and new. Nothing works quicker to bring back the spark in your student’s playing than hearing the songs that the student is learning. If you are going to take a trip that involves leaving the violin at home for a brief time, make plans to do some daily listening.

Daily practice. Even a short period of time or perhaps a few small daily practice sessions will be easy. The first few days will be the hardest because you will be working to overcome what I call "practice inertia" -- the tendency to continue moving (or not moving in this example) in the direction you have been moving. Merely set yourself a small time goal (5 minutes might be the starting point) and allow yourself and your student to expand that time period as the going gets easier. When you know that you are permitted to quit after 5 minutes, it becomes easier to stay the course and play for 10 or 15 minutes. From that point, you will find it easier to start focusing on a practice session to achieve particular goals rather than time.

Focus on posture. When we take a break, we may find it easy to fall into bad habits. We forget the correct way to do things, and we begin to do “easy” things, which are basically posture issues gone way wrong. Take the time to focus on correct posture all the time. I like to remind my students that it is as easy to perform a habit correctly as it is to perform it incorrectly. The bad habit merely feels easy when in fact it is not because it will involve major problems later.

Do lots of review. Review is a great way to ease back into a regular routine because it focuses on things that are already familiar. If your student has forgotten material learned earlier, then your student will become frustrated with new material for sure. Focus on reviewing earlier songs until your student remembers the correct posture and the earlier material. Then moving onto new material will be easier.

Set a schedule and follow it no matter what. Part of forming a good habit is to set a schedule for it and set up reminders so that you maintain the schedule. If you set up a schedule, then follow it. Make the schedule be a daily thing so that it remains easy to follow. I call this scheduling for the inertia factor. If you are already following a daily schedule, it is easier to keep following the schedule and harder to skip. See one of my earlier articles about the power of routine.

Keep it simple. Whatever you decide to do, keep your plans simple at first. It is easier to begin small and build a good routine and then later expand the routine than it is to be too ambitious and then become too overwhelmed to follow your plan. Start small and simple and grow from there.

Sometimes it is nice to enjoy the good weather and the summer activities. While you are enjoying your summer activities, keep in mind that one purpose of music education is to teach students life lessons such as discipline, perseverance, and skill development. Coming back from a vacation break can be a good time to reinforce these life lessons as you and your child get back on track. Give a nod to summer by keeping practices short and sweet, but also show your child how to get back on track with the rhythm of practice and learning.

Enjoy the rest of your summer break!

Monday Morning Check In: It’s All About Me!

Written by Paula E. Bird © 2013

Whew, I almost made it through July. There were lots of concerts, teaching, and generally trying to hold things together. It just occurred to me today how far along we were in the summer. I leave for my annual Oregon trip next Sunday, and I will not return until the last part of August when school begins. This coming week will be my last opportunity to do anything that I had planned on accomplishing this summer.

And that thought brought me to another thought, and this is a rather important thought: when am I scheduling “me time”? In truth, I have to report that I have failed dismally at scheduling time for myself this summer. Instead, I have left myself open to the desires and demands of others. I opened up many teaching slots that ate into full days. Any time left over, I allowed summer camps and evening rehearsals for recitals to creep into my schedule. I have had to squeeze in personal appointments wherever I could around my already heavily scheduled life.

This is not the best life plan. I know that. I have written about that several times before (Got a Moment to Spare?, 8 Tips to Manage Stress, and Take Care of Yourself). Since we are more than halfway through the year 2013, I think that now is a good time to regroup and reconsider this important issue. When am I scheduling “me time”?

My husband calls it an aversion to white space; I am allergic, he says, to seeing white space on my calendar. After so many years of experiencing this problem, I have to agree with my husband’s assessment. He knows me well. As I looked over my calendar for the coming week, I was amused to see that I had penciled in one day this week as a “white space day.” That means that I leave the entire day white and schedule nothing.

Now, I may decide to do something on that day, and the sky is the limit, but I am forbidden to schedule anything. I can do laundry, clean the house, or experiment with a new recipe. I can walk the dogs, go to the gym, or take a nap. I can do whatever I want or nothing at all. It is all about me and my choice on that day. I am discouraged from making a list of things that must get done. You know what I mean, because we all do this. We make our list of things to do that we plan to get to when we finally have a day off. For me though, that list does not really get taken care of. If I try to take care of the list, I find that I am listless, mentally unfocused, and enervated. [I throw in vocabulary words for my dear friend, Nina, who says she finds at least one word in each article that challenges her to find her dictionary.]

Dr. Stephen Covey would consider this white space day concept under the 7th effective habit that he refers to as “sharpening the saw.” Dr. Covey's 7th habit encourages us to do activities that recharge our batteries, fill us with renewed energy, and rekindle our interest in life. Julia Cameron urges us to go on an Artist’s Date, which is a once weekly solo excursion that nourishes creativity and refreshes the spirit. The bible refers to this as the 4th of Ten Commandments: remembering the Sabbath as a day of rest dedicated to the Lord. In this case, the Lord commanded the gift of time, which cannot be destroyed in the same way that physical objects can be.

My husband and I call it “white space day.”

Here is how to find white space days. You need to start this process well in advance, otherwise it is unlikely that you will find any possible white space day candidates. For example, this week may already be shot for you. My good fortune in having a white space day this week is that I set up my teaching schedule two weeks ago and had the brilliant idea of designating a white space day on this coming week. That was three weeks before the actual day. The cause may not be completely lost, however, and if you are able to find a day in this coming week, then congratulations!

Typically I will look at my schedule a week from now to see if there are any possible days. In my case, there will be several, since I will have about 3-4 days that are open before I begin my music festival in Sunriver, Oregon. I generally have a list of fun activities that I want to do or places that I want to visit. The festival is kind enough to schedule a white space day for me, and I already have ideas about several possible long hikes that I might take on that day. Thereafter, though, I will need to diligently search for my white space days.

Because I generally teach about 6 days a week, I may have to designate my Sundays as white space days. Even though I go to church in the morning (I am the pianist for the traditional service in the earlier morning service), I will still be able to have the remainder of the day and evening free. I may need to schedule that block of time as white space in order to keep it free. For other folks, Saturday may be the white space day.

Consider using the white space technique as a general rule to give yourself time to recharge your batteries. As we near the end of the summer and the beginning of our fall teaching journey, now would be a good time to focus on the habits that will give us the most return for our effort and will enhance our quality of life and work.

For those still counting, today is the 30^th Monday of 2013. There are 22 Mondays remaining this year.

Summer Daze

Summer hit with a vengeance here in Central Texas. We had record temperatures last weekend, topping off my Saturday evening with 108 degrees. Then a "cold" front thankfully breezed through at 69 degrees Sunday morning.

Summer hit the studio as well. I have had a busy June, so the studio has been open for one week in mid-June and now this week. I have noticed a trend among my studio families: the Summer Daze. Even my most regular families have been hit with this affliction.

There was a flurry of activity in the studio during May as my students and their families prepared for the studio recital that marked the end of the school year. Then students came to their lessons about two weeks later all fired up with new material learned. Now two weeks later, my students are dragging themselves into their lessons looking listless and unengaged. Sometimes the parents even forget that they had scheduled a lesson. Practice routines have fallen by the wayside, and practice goals have evaporated.

The Summer Daze is a slow down in commitment, routine, and action. The schedule is lighter than the school year and there are less demands on everyone's time. Unfortunately, if families spend the entire summer in the Daze, then the entire summer will pass by very quickly with little to show for it.

I am all for enjoying the free time and loose schedule. However, let us be very honest. Free time and a loose schedule does not mean that we should sit around on the couch and do nothing. Nor does it mean lolling around a swimming pool and soaking up sunshine. All of these activities are wonderful, but not all of the time, not if you want to have something to tell others about how you spent your summer vacation.

I have written a previous article about this subject with ideas about how to survive this time with a modicum of self respect. Click here if you want to review those suggestions. Today I will focus on commitment, routine, and action.

COMMITMENT

The summer is an excellent time to refocus our efforts. There are fewer competing interests for our time and attention. Why not use this time to think about the direction our next goal path will take? Let us recommit to our purpose of taking music lessons to raise children with fine abilities and noble hearts. Go back and read through some of the articles in the blog archives. I have probably written about every subject involved in music lessons, so search for a subject in the search box above and read an article a day to renew your enthusiasm and commitment.

ROUTINE

I stress the importance of routine in the summer, but we do not have to be rigid about this. A summer routine does not have to be as jam-packed as the schedule that families maintain during the school year. Rather than schedule every hour, as parents and schools typically do during the school year, why not schedule chunks of time that are designated for certain activities. For example, why not schedule a two-hour period first thing in the morning for breakfast, practice, and general cleaning chores (making beds, dusting, wiping counters). Then another two-hour block could be designated for major chores or errands (one major chore, such as vacuuming or laundry, or going to the library, bank, grocery store, or music lesson). Then there is a lunch period, and the afternoon could be longer periods devoted to sports activities or swimming at the local community pool. Evening time blocks could be devoted to family activities, visits with other families, making craft projects, or special events.

If families were able to maintain a block schedule of time periods, the families would be able to take advantage of the feeling of looseness in the summer scheduling and yet have some structure in which to feel a sense of purpose and routine. Children, who thrive on routine, would have a better ability to predict what happens next. Lessons and practice would be more productive and more predictable. Practicing is so much easier in general if it is a daily habit. My studio families will assure you that any deviation from the daily practice schedule often leads to practice problems: behavior issues, reluctance, and arguments. My studio families will agree that it is so much easier to maintain a regular and consistent practice schedule and routine.

ACTION

When we take action, something wonderful occurs. We overcome static inertia (the body's state of being at rest) and begin to build a new momentum (body in motion). Sometimes a small action, a baby step, will be enough to urge us forward through the doldrums. Like magic, even the smallest of gestures or activities may be enough to wake up our motion sensors and generate energy for further activity and accomplishment. So here are a list of a few smaller activities that you might consider adding to  your morning time blocks:

Clean out the music bag. You have probably accumulated a lot of things that no longer need to be kept. Throw away the trash and broken pencils and rosin pieces. If you have loose papers, visit the local office supply store in your errand time block and buy a notebook or two to store your lose papers. The process of cleaning out the book bag will energize your enthusiasm for making music again. Invite your child to assist you. Watch how distracted your child will be about each discovered treasure in the bag. As these items spark memories, your child will be likely to want to play the instrument.

Clean out your child's instrument case. Vacuum out all the rosin dust and other debris inside the case. Repair latches. Replace rubber bands and other worn out teaching aids. If your child plays the piano, have the child assist you in really cleaning the piano. Dust all the legs and the underside and back. Your child will not mind climbing underneath the piano, which will make the cleaning chore so much easier for the parent. You might consider polishing and cleaning the instrument too. Be sure to use the special polish that is made for this purpose; do not use regular furniture polish. This might also be a good time to change the strings on your child's instrument or to have the piano tuned. Enlist the help of your teacher in replacing the strings.

Schedule a lesson. Nothing helps momentum and activity to grow like a deadline. Call your child's teacher and set up a lesson. Even if you do not feel that you are ready for a good lesson, your child's teacher will help you to get back in touch with your momentum and enthusiasm for practice.

Plan an event. Schedule a music sleepover, a special house concert, or a pool party. There are many music-related possibilities for summer events:

• Ice Cream Sunday: tie a performance with an ice cream party
• Practice Picnic: tie practicing with a picnic party, even if it is in the backyard. Keep the instruments out of the sun though!
• Summer Talent Show: invite your child's friends and their families to participate
• Pool Party Play Down: a pool party that includes a group activity of playing the music lesson and group class repertoire from most advanced pieces to least advanced songs.
• Fiddle Friday: invite your child's music friends to join together for a fiddling afternoon or evening. Parents or other friends who play guitar, mandolin, or banjo will enjoy making music together. Students could plan to learn a new fiddle song a week.
• Backyard Bar-B-Q: tie in a special performance or friendly gathering along with a Bar-B-Q potluck event.

Summer Camp. Texas State University held its annual summer strings camp last week. There are other music camps available. Consider hosting your own music camp and invite your child's teacher to provide music theory, music reading, or other music-related activities.

These are a few ideas to get you going. Please write and let me know your special ideas to help you through the Summer Daze.

How to Get Started After a Break

Written by Paula E. Bird ©2013
We have just finished a holiday break and school resumes for most of us in a few days. There may be some families out there whose holidays got the best of them and are now trying to figure out how to get started with a good practice routine.

I wrote an article about this about 5 months ago. If you missed that article the first time around, here is the link: How to Get Started After a Break.

I recommend that you start with a solid review of Twinkles and make sure that all the teaching points are still in place. Twinkles take 3.5 to 5 minutes to play through (with introductions to each variation). That amount of time requires a good deal of concentration and focus. Your child might begin to crater about Variation C if he has lost some of his practice concentration. Do not panic, as this focus will grow quickly over the span of a few days. Plan to use Twinkles as your first plan of attack to build focus and to awaken the ear, the muscles, and the musicianship.

If your child is in a book other than book 1, plan to review Twinkles plus the first song of the book the child studies.The first songs in each of the Suzuki books are a great way to help the child regain memory and confidence, as these songs are generally not as difficult as the last song in the previous book. La Folia may be the exception to that statement, but like a review of the Twinkle variations, I believe that La Folia is like a Twinkle review for an advanced student.

By this point, your child has been listening to the recordings a few days and is probably ready to work his way through the books to where he was before the break.

The task of getting started may seem insurmountable at first, probably due to the powerful pull of inertia to stay in the same state of being on break. Go open that violin case right now, rosin the bow, tune things up, and then leave the case open. Pretty soon the violin's siren call will pull you out of the inertia minefield. Start small and keep your practice sessions shorter for the first few days. Then add 5-10 minutes until you finally reach the place where you were before the break.

Happy Practicing!

Lazy Daze of Summer

For most of us in the United States, school terms are over and the summer has officially begun. [Sigh!] Although I have very fond memories of my childhood summers, as a teacher my summers do not hold the same excitement. Here are some of the reasons that my teaching summers may be difficult, and these same reasons may apply to any holiday, vacation, or break.

When school term ends, most families no longer follow any consistent routine. Days seem to drift by with little structure. The kids play outside or in the park or at the pool. Daily practice gets postponed in favor of some other interesting, new, or fun activity [as in, less work]. Families go on vacation and make no arrangements for taking the violin along to continue practice. Sometimes lessons are cancelled entirely as families disappear for the summer.

I am all in favor of breaks and vacations. I use these tools myself to renew, refresh, and recharge my spirit and my teaching motivation. Sometimes I use my breaks and vacations to further my teaching skills by attending institutes and workshops. I also understand when families travel out of the country or across the country to visit extended family for long periods of time.

What I have trouble understanding is when families completely shunt aside the progress they and their children have made in learning a musical skill and developing ability. Children thrive on structure. All research supports this fact. Parents routinely report to me that their music studies and practice proceed successfully when the families follow an established routine and that problems occur when the schedule is not maintained. And yet, as a teacher, I still encounter the summer issue with many of my students.

The problem in some cases may be that we are not on the same page. As a Suzuki teacher who is strongly committed to the Suzuki philosophical point that the Suzuki Method is about creating fine human beings, I view my life's work as extremely important for the child, the child's family, and ultimately for our society at large. When I think of my purpose in teaching music via the violin or piano to young students as developing and nurturing ability, talent, and life skills, then I cannot bear to think about taking an extended break from my work. I have to keep things going in order not to lose any ground.

If a parent does not share this philosophy, then it is likely that the parent will be sporadic about continuing lessons and practice during the summer. The parent will schedule vacations and special events without any consideration given to the continuation of learning and practice. Remember, I am referring to the parents who do not schedule lessons (or who schedule very few lessons) or who do not maintain any semblance of a regular or consistent practice schedule. With the growth of the Internet and online tools, there are ample opportunities to maintain lessons during an extended period of time away from home. There may also be possibilities to take extra lessons per week. There is no reason to limit lessons to a weekly schedule. Why not take two lessons per week during the time the child and family are at home?

I will relate two stories to show support for the idea that summers can be more productive rather than less. One is from my own personal experience. My mother was a public school primary grade teacher, so she had summers free. When I was a child, my mother had a general schedule outlined for us kids. There was a "looseness" about the structure in terms of specifics, but there was a sense of structure. For example, when we got up in the morning, after we ate our breakfast, there was a time to complete some necessary household chores, such as cleaning or laundry or some other activity that would benefit the entire household. Then we practiced. Since my sister and I played two instruments, we would practice both. There was still some time left in the morning (we did not sleep in or late in the summer but maintained a reasonable morning wake up time), so we would run errands. Either we would go shopping for groceries or other items, or we would go to the public library to return books or to check out new ones. The library run was a regular recurrence, because I remember that more than I remember other shopping activities. After lunch, where we were eagerly beginning our new books, we spent the afternoons at the local pool. We would take our books as well and read in between swimming periods. In the late afternoon, we might play outside while mom fixed dinner, or we might pick up our instruments and dabble with some fun things. Mom might ask us to play some things for us while she worked. Sometimes we helped her to make dinner or to set the table. Then when dad was home, we would do family activities. Often my dad would do his own piano practice after dinner, or we would sing some songs together at the piano. I often played piano after dinner to amuse myself. My dad had lots of sheet music to play through. I had great summers. We always continued our lessons and music studies. Sometimes I would even begin reading about subjects I would study the next year (yes, I was a bit of a nerd when it came to school).

My second story is my former student "little Katie" who attends university now and wants to work for NASA some day as an engineer. Little Katie, so named to distinguish her from an older, taller Katie in the studio at the time, was a very busy child during the school year. She loved her summers because it gave her a chance to "get ahead" in her practicing. If she was learning book 3, she used the summer to finish the book and graduate and get a head start on the next book. Katie used this summer method of hers for many years.

You read the title of this article correctly. I meant to type "daze" rather than "days." As a teacher, what I see in the child as a result of an unstructured summer (few lessons or none, sporadic practice or none, unfocused activities), is a dazed child. They stand before me and present themselves with little focus and concentration. They are easily distracted by anything else going on. Their thoughts seem diffused, as if they are oozing out of their ears before my eyes.

Here are my recommendations to avoid the summer daze:

• Look through your calendar and schedule as many lessons as your schedule and your teacher's schedule will allow. It is okay to have more than one lesson in a week. The teacher can focus one lesson on one aspect of technique and use the other lesson to work on something new or fun.
• Think about your day and how you can arrange your schedule so that you arrange suitable moments for daily practice.
• Think about times during the week when you can arrange a special concert. Your child would love to perform for others, and this would be a wonderful reason to do some practice during the week to prepare for the event, even if the event is a phone call to grandma.
• Perhaps you can arrange a special music play date with some of your child's other music friends. I recall a trio of young students who regularly arranged sleepovers that involved the violin.
• Look through the local concerts and plan to attend several concerts in the park. Our local symphony offers several possibilities. It offers special art and music park events every Wednesday morning throughout the summer, and each week features a different section of the symphony (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion). The symphony sections each present monthly concerts in the park, and families can bring lawn chairs and pets to the concerts. The big summer event is the July 4 concert with the 1812 overture.
• Plan your vacation with your child's instrument in mind. Children can carry their instruments onto airplanes. I have camped out with my instrument and practiced under pine trees beside lakes. One time a railroad train blew right past me as I played. I had no idea that I was 30 feet from a railway line. That was interesting!
• If you are unable to take the instrument, then plan to maintain a listening program for the child so that the child remembers the pieces he or she is learning or has already learned.
• Make plans for your child to attend a Suzuki Institute or other music camp. Some of my fondest summer music experiences were my summer camps. I went to strings camps, and later as a teacher, I attended Suzuki Institutes with some of my students. We had a lot of fun! The parents who came along learned a lot as well.
• Plan special summer events. This summer might be a great time to arrange a summer Olympics for the violin. Set a few dates for special Olympic trials and races, and have the child start preparing for those events. Then arrange to make medals and certificates for each event that the child participates in.

Summer time can be a fun time for music. I hope you find ways to add music into your summer fun.

Happy Summer Practicing!

Monday Morning Check In: Take Time Off if You Need It!

This is the Monday before Thanksgiving. A few of my most conscientious parents have expressed concern that the practice (and lesson) schedule would change and that the student would lose ground during this week.

I used to worry about this too when I first began teaching. If I went away for a few weeks on a summer vacation, I worried that my students would get worse in the time I was away. My husband made an observation at the time, which I still find to be true today. He said if I was a good teacher that I could expect one of two things to happen: (1) they would get better, or (2) they would stay the same. I found his observation to be true, although I also worried at the time whether or not I was a "good" teacher. Thankfully, I know now that I am a good teacher, and I have found that my students generally do make some progress. I have not had anyone actually get worse.

I recall one really terrific Suzuki mom when her daughter first began her lessons. Her daughter started at age 3, and mom took the practicing plan very seriously. Mom participated in the 100 day club in order to strengthen the practicing habit, and then when they reached the 100 day goal, the little daughter asked if they could continue practicing for the 200 day goal. This was obviously a mom who had formed good, regular practice habits.

Then there came the time when the family had a scheduled vacation camping trip, and the mom worried that they could not take the violin with them since they would be camping on a beach in the hot Texas weather. As mom was relating this story, I could see that she was experiencing a great deal of stress, probably due to the trip preparations. All of a sudden, mom burst into tears. All because they would not be able to keep practicing on their regular schedule, and mom was afraid they would lose ground. All because of a four day camping trip!

I gave that mom my whole-hearted permission to go camping, and I insisted that she leave the violin at home and stop worrying about the practice routine. Obviously they needed a break!

As I wrote a few weeks back, sometimes we need a "breather," a step back week, or just a mental health day off (i.e., a Sabbath). Do not obsess about this or worry about it. Just take it and enjoy it! Use the time to do something different and recharge your batteries, your mental outlook, and your big picture perspective.

This is a holiday week for many of us. Let us take some time and enjoy it. Let us visit with family and friends. We do not always have much time to do this with our regular schedules, so let us take that time now. The time spent together and the time spent forging stronger connections with each other are the important things. If we have time to practice together, that will be icing on the cake. Maybe we can arrange to do a special concert for our visitors or the family, but in the absence of any such opportunity, we can enjoy still each other’s company.