Because it's not enough taking on one challenge, I had to go ahead and take on another, right? OY! "It's only five days" I said. "How hard can it be?" I said.
Let me tell you: yesterday's Vision Music challenge workshop by DHC BLEW MY FREAKING MIND. I've never been confident at improvisation. I never thought I was capable of it, and usually tend to avoid it. But DHC gave us some tools that absolutely revolutionized the way I think of myself as a musician in an hour's time. Unbelievable. I am still floored! Not only can I improvise and compose just using a motif of three notes, but by using her techniques it actually feels easy and safe and not absolutely terrifying! lol
So yesterday and today I spent some time hammering out the cadenza and finale of Baroque Flamenco for the HC Challenge, and also watched the videos and did the exercises for the Vision Music Challenge. Yesterday's Olympic Event was to do some cardio exercise for ten minutes, which I'm embarassed to say I did not do. Sorry, but Sunday is my much-needed rest day, and besides, I spent a great deal of it lugging heavy bins of holiday decorations to the attic, and laundry up and down the basement stairs, so that counts. Today's Olympic Event was to listen to a classical piece I'd never heard before. I listened to Listz's Les Preludes, S. 97 from Anneleen Lenaerts' album "Vienna Stories". Beautiful music to have my morning coffee to.
DHC's assignment today was to improvise on a three note theme (F-C-B), shifting the bass from F to D (which I forgot to do) and add a call and answer effect. Then she wanted us to think about what our 3 primary creative values are. Mine, I discovered, are: 1) Connection (internal and external), 2) expressive permission (getting out of my head and into my heart without apology.) and 3) authenticity. She also had us think about a takeaway, and for me it was what an amazing journey improvisation can take you on if you let it. I had a really crappy day today, dealing with some very frustrating and heartwrenching parenting challenges. I'd been in tears most of the afternoon. So this exercise really took me to a deep place that I needed to go and allowed me to express it all - my trepidation and uncertainty, my frustration, the repetition of trying something over and over and over again no matter how many walls you hit, and also the beauty of motherhood and the depth of love that makes it all worth it. This exercise was a real gift, and exactly what I needed. Here's a snippet of what I did - it's not perfect, but it's not supposed to be. As DHC told us, it's about connection, not perfection. Do you feel connected to this in some small way? Does it touch you? Let me know by sending me a message on the contact page or on any of my social media pages!
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