Clarity

There are things that become clearer to me as I get older. Here are some I’ve been thinking about recently.

The most recent MSO concert was this past week. It was a really fun concert- I really enjoyed playing the overture to Cowboys by John Williams and I’ve always loved My Fair Lady and Orpheus in the Underworld. While we were having our last dress rehearsal, I noticed someone sitting in the auditorium listening to the rehearsal and it made me think about when Grandma would come to my PSYO rehearsals each week. I never got that. I didn’t want to sit through rehearsals, why would somebody not even playing want to sit through rehearsals? I think I get it now, though. If you love music, like my grandmother did, and if you were a lifelong teacher, like my grandmother was, I’m sure you’d want to be surrounded by it as often as you could. You were already familiar with the process of improving and bringing something to performance ready and I’m sure you would enjoy sitting in an orchestra rehearsal and be surrounded by the music, even though it wasn’t perfect yet. It made a lot more sense.

Another thing that has become clearer to me is how fantastically well written many books of my childhood are. I had a few minutes to kill and was flipping through the end of “A View from Saturday” and was tearing up at the beautiful and yet so simple language. Yesterday, when I was at Hyde Park books, I almost bought myself second copies of “The Westing Game” and “Stargirl” because they are such IMCREDIBLE books that every single person should read and be better off for it. I didn’t in the end, but it was a bit of an internal struggle to say the least! I have friends who just aren’t readers for whatever reason- they don’t enjoy books or they can’t find things that keep their interest and that makes me sad or them but also so grateful that I not only loved to read but had amazing books at my fingertips. Yes, I read trash (hello Baby-sitters Club) and let’s be real, still enjoy reading trash (hello snarky Baby-sitters Club) but am also so grateful that I was able to read Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, EL Konigsburg, Jerry Spinelli, James Howe, Chris Crutcher, Cynthia Voight, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and all these other amazing authors that are now sadly too often overlook for things like Twilight, Gossip Girl, and more supernatural-y, post-apocalyptic world type books.

Sometimes technology is awesome. Just this second, I googled “Rose Little Town in the Ozarks Donkey” and found exactly what I was looking for. (In case you’re curious, it was “Spookendyke”. I knew that Rose got a donkey for her birthday and he had a funny name and that’s what it was.)  And that’s awesome. I love that I have information at the tips of my fingers. Sometimes. Other times, I think about life before google was an option. Research was different. Conversation was different. Curiosity was greater, I think. I read (ironically, online) about the new technologies that are being developed and it excites but also worries me. At what point will be become so wrapped into our technological devices that we lose the art of conversation, the thrill of curiosity and uncertainty, the excitement of discovery? I’m definitely not judging or saying that I’m a saint and NEVER do any of these things; I enjoy my phone and my computer. I love tracking my reading on goodreads and posting instagram pictures and seeing what’s happening on facebook. But am I searching for beautiful sunsets to enjoy them or photograph them? When I think about something I don’t know, do I wrack my brain and try to problem solve or do I immediately go to google and figure it out? Too often, I feel like I do the latter and want to try more to do the former. Simplicity over technology.

Except in one area: staying in touch with friends. I am SO grateful for facebook and email and skype and Facetime and Whats-App and whatever else is out there that keeps me in touch with my friends in Israel, England, opposites coasts, California, wherever. A few weeks ago, I needed some information on this exhibit at the Pitt Rivers and while google was unhelpful, Marsaili was incredibly helpful. When my BIF told me she was pregnant, I was able to respond immediately, without having to wait for a letter to be delivered. I can plan trips with friends despite not being in the same place. While I was always, in any circumstances, 100% rather have a face-to-face conversation in a coffee house, pub, on a walk, wherever, when that’s not possible, I’m very thankful for technology.