Living Life to Its Fullest

So, this year I've made a few strides in living life to its fullest.  My checklist still has lots of items on it, but at least some of them have changed from a status of "going nowhere" to "in progress".

Last September I started curling again.

I love curling. I forgot how much I love curling.  I love to play, I like to watch. I LOVE CURLING!! And, I'm totally okay if you think I'm a dork for it... especially if you've never tried it... you know the saying "don't knock it 'til you've tried it".  I'd say that's especially true for curling.  Until you've tried it, you don't understand the thrill of the strategy behind the sport, the excitement of watching your sweepers get the rock just by that front guard, the joy of making that elusive double take out or tap-back raise to the button.  Ahh... curling... why can't you be a year round sport?  I am definitely curling again next year (even with the somewhat steep price tag of $350 per player per year). Living Life a Little Bit Better - CHECK!

Around the same time I also started taking piano lessons.

As a quick aside... This futuristic Schimmel Pegasus Grand Piano that looks "like it came out of a wormhole in StarTrek" can be mine for as little as $159,000 US! (as Joel would say, "It's a Bargain!")

Anyway... my piano teacher, Michelle Aalders, is great.  A bit more conservative than I would prefer, but I suppose she's not supposed to be my friend, she's supposed to be my teacher.  Don't get me wrong, I'd totally go out for a mochachinno, chocochino, frappucino, cappuccino, rappachino, al pacino, WT*? (oops! no swearing at piano lessons!)

For those of you that have no idea what just went on:  (but be warned, LOTS of "coarse language")

Anyway, back to PIANO!

Michelle is highly qualified having played piano for over 30 years and receiving her Bachelor of Music from Acadia University in Nova Scotia (her home) and then her Masters in Music Degree in Piano Pedagogy (pedagogy = the art of teaching) and Performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.  She's a member of the Saskatchewan Music Teachers Association and is also the accompanist for Saskatoon's acclaimed Children's Choir... the list goes on!

According to Michelle, I'm doing very well. Conquering all things she's challenging me with in good time.  I started with a paino book geared to adults and have since moved on to the infamous Royal Conservatory of Music books.  Scary.

With piano, I've probably always been my own worst critic.  My right hand has it easier as my years of playing the flute have left me a far better sight reader in the treble clef.  My poor left hand though - it struggles, but even when I get good at playing a piece's bass clef music the next challenge arises.  PLAYING THEM TOGETHER! It is infinitely harder to play both hands at once.  Even with both hands 100% mastered when playing alone, it's a whole other ball game when you have to put them together.

I am also really good at quitting when things get tough.  The music for this week is HARD and I'm struggling.  I can hear it in my head far better than I can play it with my hands.  It's frustrating, sometimes debilitating.  My shoulders hurt and I feel defeated.  Time to walk away from the piano bench, do something else for a while, and then get back at it.  My goal is to practice 6-7 hours a week.  Ideally 1 hour per day, but with lessons being Thursdays at 5:00 there is no time to practice beforehand, and with curling Thursday nights until 11:30pm it's hard to sneak a practice in after supper - and who wants to practice RIGHT after their lesson anyway?  So, I try to make up for it by practicing over an hour on Saturdays and Sundays... maybe all at once, or maybe in two sessions.  Sounds easy, but it can be hard for me to pull myself away from my old habits and make time to better myself.

I'm not sure if everyone would consider this a step in living life to its fullest, but for me, music is an important part of my life.  A part I've never felt good enough at.  For all of the natural ability I have, I should be better than I am.  I am living life by not watching that extra hour of TV on the couch.  I'm playing piano, practicing piano - living my life.

Much more improvement needed, but I'm working on it... this summer will be my next big challenge.  Lets all start praying for some nice weather now, ok?