Back To Basics

Winter is almost at its end. With spring comes a desire for fresh air, inside and out. This is the time when household project ideas replace the dusty thoughts of ways to escape the cold.

It's the time of year when you notice just how cluttered the house got since summer ended. The forgotten holiday decoration, the unfinished craft project, the piles of tax preparation paperwork, and all those worn out sweaters begin to crowd your senses. It's funny how an early warm day -- that first occasion to open a window -- can invigorate us to clean out and get a fresh start.

OK, some of us get more motivated than others. In fact parting with possessions can be very difficult regardless of how useless, obsolete or ratty the items are. As an organizational consultant for 10 years, I came up against the issue regularly.

For example, I remember one women who told me about her crowded attic. When I asked her to give me an example of what was up there, she closed her eyes to remember and said, "The first thing is my box of knitting supplies."

I asked, "Do you still knit?"

"No, not anymore," she replied.

"Well then why do you have it?"

"I guess I wish I would have finished the project. I guess I wish I'd pick it up again someday," she said. I could tell by her voice that she never would.

Her sewing box now stood as a trophy commemorating the goal she never met. And since it was the first thing she came to in the attic, it served to punish her for her lack of achievement every time she entered the storage area.

I encouraged her to donate the material and let someone else turn the clutter into a warm blanket or other useful item. I reminded her that, by removing the box, she can make way for a new goal -- one that can be accomplished and can deliver a sense of achievement.

She suddenly seemed as if she couldn't wait to get home to the attic, and I could see in her eyes that she already knew what would take knitting's place. It didn't matter what that replacement was. What mattered is that she turned from downtrodden to motivated.

That's what spring cleaning is all about: taking a deep, strong breath and moving on towards a new season.

My backyard has been covered with snow measurable in feet for all of February. A recent rainstorm tried to dissolve it without success. Today it is snowing once again.

The storms have added some excitement to an otherwise uneventful month; school kids are out of snow days, and conversations with strangers are friendlier because there is a sense that we are surviving together. But I can't help thinking, "this is just weird."

After the biggest storm so far, a sign appeared in a yard - set atop a five-foot snowbank - that read, "Oh No, Global Warming." The sign was even pictured on the front page of the local paper, with a caption referring to it as a joke.  Was it?  Or was it a political statement?

I hope it was a friendly joke, because it deserves no credit otherwise. The fact is one cannot look out their window on a single day and contemplate climate change; they must look out their window all year. Grade school science class taught me that weather is about cycles. A hotter sun causes more evaporation (just look at your grass in July).  More evaporation means a wetter atmosphere. A wetter atmosphere means more precipitation.

A warmer ocean surface in a given year can also mean bigger storms (called El Niño years). Now there simply is not a computer model that can reliably connect global warming to El Niño frequency, but it does seem that the occurrence has increased from the past average of every four to five years. I also recognize that we've had snowy years in the past. While Pennsylvania has broken daily snowfall records, our annual precipitation totals are not off the charts.

Regardless, a home repair contractor recently told me that he cannot get a gutter to work these days. The storms overflow them. And there are hundreds of I've-never-seen-anything-like-this stories out there, all talking about the weather.

What's my point? We must adapt.

I bet you thought it was going to be whether or not global warming is real. I'll let the scientists and politicians battle that one out. I do not need a label or a study or a tax incentive to tell me that our environment is changing.  And if our world is changing, then so too must we.

So how do we adapt? Do we just build bigger gutters? 

How about letting our coastlines return to a natural state so they can do the storm-protection job nature designed them to do? How about adjusting our lifestyles so that we can get the companionship, food, supplies and other needs locally to reduce our desire to have every road and airstrip open 365 days a year? How about we start respecting our place in the natural environment instead of trying to figure out how we can win despite it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play in the snow.

I watched Oprah Winfrey's television show yesterday. Her correspondent took us to places the average American NEVER gets to see. One of these was a nun's convent in Michigan. (Show title: Keeping the Faith)

Here, women as young as 18 tiptoe through life in marriage to Jesus Christ. The youngest and oldest among them went on camera to describe the freedom that came from two vows in particular: poverty and chastity. The piece showed how deeply satisfied the nuns are with their choice to follow their calling.

Religious views aside, I could not deny that their poverty vow mirrored a key theme in this Back-to-Basics Blog. We are so inundated with material things that we will likely never be satisfied, no matter how luxuriously we live.  

And the vow of chastity is not much different. Due to an obsession with self-image, we will likely never be pretty enough, no matter how perfect we look.  

At a convent, these absurdities are shut off, and each women is free. But for those of us who do not have the religious calling to give themselves to a man we've never met (and willingness to share that man with thousands), we are stuck with shutting out the senselessness on our own.

The nun feels peace because she has dedicated herself to a husband whose ideals match her own, and everyone around her shares this dedication. Meanwhile, we must fend for ourselves and often conflict with the aspirations of many of our acquaintances: our housemates, our friends, our family, our coworkers, strangers, and even the television and Internet. We struggle for the nun's freedom without incarceration behind a convent's walls.

It's important to keep in mind that going against the grain of society should not be a dedication. Society is an unpredictable and constantly changing thing. Dedication to peace, harmony, good health, and a light step on the earth leads to a deeper satisfaction than avoidance or rebellion ever could.

Freedom from materialism and self obsession can be achieved. It's not easy, but neither is moving away from your family and loved ones to enter a convent for the rest of your life.

It was intended be just a brief, personal introduction. Last Saturday, when I took my recyclables to Recycling Services, Inc., I met the center's President, Jim Crater.  I found it ironic that the sun blinded me as I talked with this solar power and waste reduction guru.

It soon became clear that Jim was not going to let me off with a quick "hello; I'm a writer; I'll be in touch." He had stuff to say -- words that should be said -- words that I almost couldn't keep up with -- and if I was going to listen, he was going to talk.

After 10 minutes, it was closing time, and I still had items to distribute into one of over 20 different bins. And Jim's volunteers were ready to wrap it up on the 50-degree, winter afternoon, so we agreed to talk again and said goodbye.  

Afterward, his words swirled around in my head. Since 1971 he has been building this oldest community recycling center in Pennsylvania, and while he takes more types of material than any other in America, he'd really prefer we stop generating the waste in the first place. He has real solutions to our waste problems. He lives the philosophy, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"...in that order...saving recycling for the last resort.

You'll hear more about Jim from me in the near future.  In the meantime, you can learn more about Recycling Services, Inc. by clicking here. 

The last entry in my "What I've Learned from Playing the Piano" series is simply a recap. 

The end of the series does not indicate the end of learning because as long as I continue to play, I will continue to learn.

Here's what was written over the last few months:

Part I: An Intention to Pay Attention

Part II: The Crippling Power of Vanity.

Part III: Take the Time to Figure it Out.

Part IV: Put Your Heart Into It.

Part V: Take Time to Play.

Part VI: Hobbies are Vital.

Part VII: Remember What is Important.

When a performer sits down to play, it's likely that he is concerned he'll make a mistake. In Part II, we talked about the crippling power of vanity and how nervousness can ruin a performance.  In addition to controlling one's attitude, a seasoned performer can also control his focus, bringing it to the primary element of any song, so that any mistakes will have limited impact on the overall performance.

I once attended a workshop where the question was asked, "Because it can be so difficult to sing and play at the same time, which task gets more attention?"  The answer was definite: singing. The teacher explained that when a song is sung, the words take first precedence because they tell the story and capture the audience's attention. If a mistake is made on the accompanying instrument, it's less likely that the audience will notice than when words are flubbed or mumbled.

Other times, such as in the case of a classical piece, expression of the melody becomes most important. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is such a melancholy song that it can make you feel the same. It's not a technical piece, so one must use expression to make the song shine. Meanwhile, technique is the priority when playing the Flight of the Bumble Bee at the tempo needed to finish in just one minute (a feat I've never achieved).

Obviously we strive to play all the elements correctly, 100% of the time, but the truth is perfection is reserved for the experts. And whether we are talking about a child's first piano recital or your next big presentation to the board, the end result will be a more positive one if you can identify and give priority to the one thing that is most important at that moment in time.

The recent gift-buying season proved just how difficult it is to select a present for someone who has no hobbies. It's easy to find a new project for a model-building enthusiast, a book for the avid reader, or warm clothes for the skier, but when it comes to the people who spend their time on the couch watching television, they need only one thing: a new hobby.

In my opinion, TV watching does NOT qualify as a hobby. Neither does Internet surfing. These activities help to pass the time, but they rarely challenge your brain or motor skills. Meanwhile, lots of American's are filling their down time with these artificial hobbies. A real hobby creates excitement or rallies someone to action. It turns empty time into something that has been built or envisioned or an action that improves with practice.

I suppose video games must be accepted as a hobby since they do meet these standards, but I believe that a bonafide hobby is one that can be done even when the lights go out.

If you don't have a hobby, you are missing out on a great part of life. Finding one can be as easy as asking your friends and co-workers what they do for fun or paging through the local paper's advertisements to see what catches your fancy.

My life would be dull without my piano-playing hobby. And it also helps the gift-giver since they can always find something for me at the music store.

The other day I walked past my piano and thought, "There's no time to play now, I've got important things to do."

When I was in my 20s, I'd play at least four times a week. It was a great way to unwind after a stressful day or gear up for an exciting date. Without notice, my habits slowly changed, and now I sit at the keyboard once a week at best.

If I stop to think about it, I really should be prioritizing playtime as something that needs to be done as much as laundry and eating and sleeping because a talent unused is a talent lost. Also, like the gurus advise, a few minutes of meditation each day can have a powerful impact on productivity and good health. I've never been any good at clearing my rambling mind of all thoughts, so I use my piano time as an alternate form of meditation.

I need to make this one of the important things that must be done instead of viewing it as luxury to be enjoyed after all the work is complete. What cherished activity do you deny yourself these days?

My teachers encouraged me because they said I had a quality that couldn't be taught: expression.  I might not get all the notes right, but I do play with emotion.

Imagine two musicians playing the same song with identical accuracy and speed. Both performances are entertaining, but one musician conveys the song's meaning, the reason it was written, the nuances of the lyrics, and the pain or joy that the composer felt. That musician will move you to feel the song and will make you  laugh, cry, dance, or sing along.  Imagine the other musician playing without emotion. He will deliver an adequate yet unsatisfying tune, and you might tap your foot at best.

Life-changing moments tend to measure everyone's emotional expression. During a recent funeral for the mother of a dear friend, the chaplain spoke about how important both laughter and tears are in life. Of the people I knew who attended that funeral, most experience laughter often in their lives, but I wondered how many ever allow themselves to experience the power of a good cry. Like an ocean tide removing the sand, crying slowly carries away the pain.

Today it is my own family that is in pain. This Friday we will bury my cherished mother-in-law, Joy Heil. In order to replay her life's song properly, we must allow ourselves to feel all the emotions, not choke them back. Only then can we properly celebrate her life and experience meaningful healing from her loss.

We never know which days in life will be happy and which will be sad, but no matter what happens, each one should be a passionate performance, and I intend to put my heart into every song.

I am a musician who reads sheet music. Dots and lines and foreign phrases all must be translated before a written page can become a song. The beginner may take hours, days or even weeks to do this, while I need just a few minutes (depending on the complexity). This is not because I am a genius; I have been playing for 30 years.

A beginner will slowly and carefully make sure all the details are right. What key is it in? Is it a 3-4 waltz or a 4-4 rock beat? Is that chord supposed to sound unusual? What exactly does Adagio mean? At the start, I HAD to plod through in order to figure it out.

As the lessons continued, you might say I became proficient, but mostly I got better at guessing. I now play a lot of songs, some of them well, but rarely without mistakes; and too often when I'm learning a new piece, I just guess so that I can continue on and enjoy the song..mistakes and all.

The hard truth is it would be a richer melody, and much more pleasant experience for anyone listening, if I took the time to figure out all the nuances and key changes and strange chords and tempo-marks.

And this truth applies to all things in life. How much more powerful would my computer program be if I took the time to read the instructions? How much easier would the drive be if I first took the time to figure out the best route? How much more rewarding would my marriage be if I took to the time to find out what happened in my husband's life each day?

When I first touched a computer, I read every word. When I first learned to drive, I knew exactly how to get where ever I was going. When I first met Glenn, I asked about all the details.

If I did my writing job well today, you will need only read this once to get the picture. Swiftness comes as we repeat our daily tasks, but we should not take for granted the understanding and richness that is gained when we take a moment to figure it out.

[Footnote:  Adagio means, "slow, leisurely; a slow movement."]