Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope each and every one of you had an amazing holiday. While it may not have been a typical Thanksgiving or the one we would have wanted, it’s important to recognize what we’re grateful for. This year has been a challenge from the start. It’s tested our patience, our sanity, and our well-being. Even though it’s been incredibly difficult to navigate, let’s take a second to reflect on 2020. What did you learn? Who was there for you? How did you get to this point? What are YOU grateful for?
January and February were “normal”. I went to school, I saw my friends, I received amazing, in person instruction from my teachers, and I was thriving. I had several opportunities to see the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and to attend other live music events. I played in ensembles with my colleagues, I ate lunch with my friends on the 7th floor of the music building almost daily, and was living my dream in New York City. The last normal thing I did was in early March when I went out with a few close friends for my birthday. I had one of the best times Ever, just laughing, making memories, and hanging out in the heart of NYC at our favorite places.
One week later everything closed. I moved home. I started school online. I wasn’t able to see my friends in person, and frankly I felt alone. Just like many people, I have experienced a bit of an emotional roller coaster during the pandemic. I struggled to keep myself motivated. Our lives made a huge shift to a new normal and none of us had time to adapt; but it was what it was. While this pandemic has taken many things away from people-jobs, friends and family members, homes, and school, I think this pandemic has taught us a lot about being grateful for what we have. We need to and take the time to appreciate even the smallest things, those which we may have taken for granted before.
Personally, I’m extremely grateful for education. I’m grateful that my teacher and I were able to adapt to virtual lessons quickly and that this didn’t affect my ability to learn and grow as a musician. I think that many teachers have done an exceptional job at adapting to the new ways of teaching, and teaching effectively online. This is something that could have gone badly, but many didn’t give up on their students. I’ve discovered that I definitely learn better in person rather than online, however, this makes me much more grateful for the in-person education that I’ve received in my past years of schooling.
I’m grateful for creativity. I’m grateful for music, drawing, writing, knitting, cooking, and other creative outlets as well. These creative activities help us find an escape during the periods of time when we were confined to our homes. My family certainly did our fair share of trying new recipes! My sisters and I also took up knitting. It’s something that’s surely helped us pass the time and is also quite therapeutic! We also did our fair share of binge watching tv shows, which I’m sure was something everyone has done. Typically I’m not the person to be grateful to have tv to watch, but when I was home with my family 24/7, it was surely something we were all grateful for this year. Creativity in any form was surely a blessing.
Needless to say our essential workers are people to be extremely grateful for. Our nurses, doctors, delivery people, grocery store workers, are among those people who continue to keep us safe and make sure we have the essentials we needed to keep living our lives. The people who cared for our friends, families, and even strangers in the hospitals and nursing homes during this time. These people are the real MVPs and we cannot forget how much they have done for all of us.
And I can’t say it enough, I’m super grateful for my friends and family. These people keep me grounded. While I haven’t much any of my friends since March, I am so grateful for the hours-long phone calls, texts, and facetime conversations I have with these people. They’ve been there for me with everything; through hard times, good times, times where I need an extra set of ears, or just a bit more support. These are the people I’ve complained to, cried to, and shared many valuable moments with. I can’t wait to see what each of my friends do in the future because honestly I’m blessed to be surrounded by some pretty incredible people. My family has been so supportive in the past few months. Considering I’ve seen them every day for the past 9 months, we’ve spent plenty of time together chatting, helping each other, watching tv together, and doing some fun creative activities to pass the time. There are no other people I’d rather be quarantined with!
And that’s my list of the things I’m extremely grateful for this year. What are you grateful for? What are the things that have been a saving grace this year? Let me know on instagram @mindoverpractice. That’s it for this week! Have a great rest of your holiday weekend, and have a productive week of positive practicing!