Have you ever asked yourself what your ideal string music educator day would be like? If you could dream up anything and create a day that was amazing beyond your wildest dreams, and you could put that dream date on a calendar, knowing it was coming into reality would you do it?
What would your dream day be like? Can you envision it in great detail, not just what you would do but how you would feel as you are in it?
Right now mine goes something like this, and I do believe it is attainable, so maybe that’s a little hint that I need to dream something wilder.
I wake up with my dear husband in a comfy bed with clean, soft sheets and an airy feel to the room. The room, like our home, is warm and open, with natural light and plenty of room for air and ideas to circulate. And there are plants. Beautiful, healthy green plants to help create cleaner air and liven up the room just by being there. (This is in China, by the way.)
We get ready for the day, relaxed and joking like usual, and have a delicious, fresh breakfast together and discuss the plan for the day.
We’ll have some exercise in the morning sunlight, and maybe have a meeting or two, make some notes and any quick follow-up activities and then break for a cappuccino.
Next we practice music for our upcoming concert, and then have a healthy but tasty lunch. We may have similar or different agendas in the afternoon: I imagine teaching around 8-10 students, then having a break. Or alternatively, I spend time on arranging, composing, writing and developing projects like the Royal String Teacher Association which need focused attention.
Then it is time for another break, maybe a snack but definitely something delicious and hydrating to drink like fresh squeezed juice, a smoothie or lemon water.
After this I check on any further follow-up I should do regarding colleagues and family in distant time zones, and have some me-time to write in my journal and think through the steps I plan on taking the next day.
Throughout the day I’ve been outside several times, getting fresh air and sunshine, and spoken with a variety of colleagues and friends. We’ve probably used German, Mandarin and English.
In the evening, we’ll either go to a lovely restaurant for a relaxed dinner with friends, or we’ll have a quick dinner at home and continue working on the projects we love, or play chamber music with friends or on stage in concert.
At the end of the day, we pick up any belongings we’ve set down during the day, and straighten up our home a bit before getting ready to wind down. During the last 20-30 minutes, we sit together and reflect on the day and talk about coming plans, hopes and steps we will take to make our next dream into a reality.
So right now, I’m not completely there yet, although there are many of these very real aspects of my ideal day already in motion, on a regular basis, and exist almost every day. For this I am extremely grateful! But you know what? This didn’t happen on accident. This happened because I’ve laid the ground work, worked at it for many years, and keep tweaking it to make it ever better.
It may be a stretch to get much clean air outdoors in Suzhou this year, but we will definitely do some (okay, a lot of) traveling to get more frequent fresh air. Plus have mentioned our first shopping trip is going to be to the flower market to invest in some lovely air-purifying plants?!
What does your ideal day look/sound/feel like? I would love to know! Share yours:
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