Cello, I miss you.

My son went to cello practice for the first time in months last week. We have opted to have him go all virtual this year so even a little bit of social time at school felt like a blessing for both of us. This time last year we were getting excited about his coming trip to Europe with his orchestra. Needless to say the trip never happened. We eventually got some of our money back and all of the memories that would have been were dashed by the global pandemic. Our parent meeting was two days before everyone was told to go home from everything. How little prepared we were. 

Music and orchestra has held a special place in our lives since my son first picked up a cello when he was 10 years old.  I remember when the first crude notes rang through the living room. I was instantly struck by how much of my son's bright voice I could hear come through in the instrument. As I've been an audience to many a string performances over the past 8 years it never ceases to amaze the amount of emotion and voice that can be conjured by the strings and their players. Its probably the thing I miss the most about pre-pandemic life (and yoga classes in yoga studios). 

My son has continued to have lessons with his tutor through the course of the pandemic. Virtual instruction seems possible and provides a source of income for his teacher who has been hard hit by her lack of performing gigs. We were blessed to meet a phenomenal cello player and teacher who has been with us since we moved out to Indy 7 years ago. I cherished the moments when he was younger and I would drop him off for that hour on a Sunday and have a bit of quiet to myself. Sometimes when waiting I would fall asleep on the teacher's couch only to wake up to tea and a snack sitting next to me. They are good moments through and through.

I also can't fathom who my son would be if he didn't have the preforming arts in his life. Its been a place of exploration and socialization for him. He's worked hard at solos and even preformed some with an orchestra accompanying him. In the moments of his development when we seemed totally at odds with each other we both agreed that the cello was worthy of our time. As we start to see the light at the end of the high school tunnel I don't know what role it will play in his life. I just know it will be there waiting for him should he ever want to play again.

 

 

Transcendental Meditation

There seems to be invitations to meditate everywhere. At the grocery store on the magazine shelves there are shiny promises of zen and present moment bliss. I tried apps and magazines and books to try to reach the promise of stillness within. Like most people I found the idea intriguing, but I was scratching the surface without really breaking through to this oasis from stress. 

One morning I was reading the IndyStar and in one of the advice columns a reader had written in that Transcendental Meditation(TM) had helped them with their sleeping issues. I must have read it after a particularly sleepless night, because I was googling it in the next breath. 

There was a training center not far from my house and a free introductory class. I signed up without hesitation. In the intro class you learn that
TM is a form of meditation that is taught through mostly one on one instruction over the course of four days. It costs several hundred dollars depending on your income level. I had picked up some extra work earlier in the year and decided to put those earnings towards the class. 

Auspiciously, I started my first TM session on Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and I have practiced twice daily since then. Its a remarkably simple technique that requires 20 minutes in the morning and evening. TM doesn't ask you to stop thinking or empty your mind which is what people mostly associate with meditation. The TM intro course likens it to the mind being like the turbulent surface of the ocean, but once we allow it to settle down it can access the deep, still calm waters of the deep. I would say it is like holding a baby that is fighting against sleep. If you rock and pat the baby for long enough it settles into a blissful, peaceful sleep (you don't actually fall asleep in TM). 

Its funny because as I've experienced more clarity with my mind I am experiencing more clarity in my body as well. I'm eating better, I'm exercising more, I'm not perfect, but I can feel the ripples of my practice through different areas of my life including sleeping better!

This isn't a paid advertisement for TM. Its a post that maybe will turn on a light for someone like that reader who wrote into the IndyStar. If interested I can recommend the teacher I trained with here in Indy. Whatever your journey, - namaste - the light in me bows to the light in you.