Three Weeks and Time to Think

Three weeks ago we were at the end of this fantastic Immersion experience--we've now had some time to think and apply what we experienced to our everyday work as artists and CEOs of our own businesses.  As a mentor, I've seen new fire in many of the students upon returning--Marie, Evan, and Emily have given recitals that glittered and gleamed with new influences and Meagan's recital is tonight.  Many others have also shared their new perspectives with me, their peers, and in their performing.  We are indeed a lucky group to have a University that supported this type of project.  Everywhere we went, people told us they had never heard of such a program.  Thank you UW-Eau Claire.

Please keep checking back with this blog--each student will be posting at least two more times now that they have had time to reflect, and of course we'll be doing the immersion program again next year.

I've been reflecting on lots of things, many of which I am journaling personally about, but something I'll share is re-arriving at the conclusion that one really must allow oneself time to think.  If all your time is spent running from one thing to another, when do you ever get to process what you've experienced?  Sometimes staying on the run like that might be a self-protective mechanism to avoid reflection.  Reflection is hard.  If we do it right, we realize what we've learned but we also realize our own areas of weakness and both are scary.  It is difficult at times to admit what we are good at, and it is difficult to admit what we're not good at.  Human beings are so complicated.

So, I've been trying to give myself "down time" to think about things and just be.  The difficult part of slowing down is that I feel I am not accomplishing enough.  And in fact, I am accomplishing less than I am used to.  But hopefully the quality of what I do will improve.  It will require an entire change to how I have lived my life, but it is something that I am bound and determined to do.

It is interesting to reflect on the same experience that the students had, but from an entirely different point in life.  They see what they want to be doing and what they need to add to their repertoire and their routine of being a working artist.  I am inspired to refine, improve, and frankly cut back on, what I already do.  I know who I am. They are discovering who they are.  Both are special.
Mitra