I feel much better after a lucky resolution to what could have been a very bad craigslist deal (my fault).
Hooray because:
1) I learned some lessons without having to figuratively or literally pay for it
2) I was prepared to accept my mistake
Peema Chondron's audiobook This Moment is the Perfect Teacher was a good find. Learning to be self-compassionate and let something pass.
Was I completely at peace with my potentially impending mistake? No...but I wasn't going internally Chernobylize.
Today I stumbled on an old sticky note I'd written to myself
RULE ONE: Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.
RULE TWO: General duties of a student — pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
RULE THREE: General duties of a teacher — pull everything out of your students.
RULE FOUR: Consider everything an experiment.
RULE FIVE: Be self-disciplined — this means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
RULE SIX: Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.
RULE SEVEN: The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
RULE EIGHT: Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They’re different processes.
RULE NINE: Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
RULE TEN: “We’re breaking all the rules. Even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.” (John Cage)
HINTS: Always be around. Come or go to everything. Always go to classes. Read anything you can get your hands on. Look at movies carefully, often. Save everything — it might come in handy later.
I also read this article by The Bulletproof Musician regarding goal-setting
So before the school year gets going…
(1) Take a moment and write down 3-5 goals for the year. What do you want to achieve? What would you like to be able to say you’ve accomplished when you look back on the year?
*Strengthen my musicianship: Horn/Jazz Piano/Voice/or learning Viola
*Contribute positively to my TA position
*Maintain a financial cushion through my skills as a Music Educator or Performer
(2) What milestones or benchmarks would help you gauge whether you’re on track or not? What are some mid-year goals, mid-semester goals, and perhaps even monthly goals that would let you know if your strategies are working or not?
*Meet with professors to discuss progress roughly each quarter
*Keep open communication with the program director
*Track/inventory my finances each month
(3) And finally, what are your learning goals for the year? What are the strategies and processes that will enable you to become a better musician, play at the level you are striving for, and realize the big, exciting, motivating goals that you’ve set for yourself?
*Better understanding and practice of music theory (ideally synthesized through improvisation)
*Improved control in low register and shift into mid-low register
*Increased transposition skills
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