Music and the empty nest!

I had been a musician all my adult life! Played in bands..."on the road". Lots of travel. Lots of memorable experiences! Sounds glamorous but when I met my husband, the thought of settling down was very compelling. The "road" can be a difficult task master and playing in bar after bar can be gruelling! So, as my family grew, music was left behind...at least that form was! I did manage to play in orchestras from time to time just to fill the need but my family became my obsession...consuming everything else! Then came the inevitable....both of my kids were in college, AWAY from home. NOW WHAT!?

I did the usual reminiscing of the past for a while (my band playing days.) Trying to figure out..."What next". I guess you call that "empty nest." You know, missing your childhood or young adult hood once the kids have flown the coup! Remembering "the good old days"! My family had been my life for a long time and now I had to figure out what to do with myself. The more I pondered the harder it got. I tried several things to keep me busy, but nothing really filled the gap. You don't really understand the term "empty nest" until you experience it and no one can prepare you for it...it just happens. The more I tried to relieve the symptoms, the worse it got!

I finally let go of trying to find whatever it was I was trying to find and.....there it was! A cello quartet! A voice whispered....take this quartet, relive the music you played in younger years and create a new outlet for it. AH HA! The Beatles, cello style! Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, all my idols....cello style! It was brilliant! Now, I can relive the past with an eye on the future! All I had to do was quite trying to think of something! Quite working so hard to MAKE things happen and LET things happen! Easier said than done sometimes but if we let our imagination plant an idea, we can run with it! I am still running! There are LOTS of possibilities, I just had to stop trying to think of them and let them! Make sense? Sometimes trying too hard, digs a whole, thinking too hard, makes it wider! Then you fall into it!



So, I am excited about the new musical possibilities in my life (I am also playing with another orchestra...in the back of the section! Full circle!) I am hoping to share the quartet with everyone soon...all in good time. I am so glad I listened to my own imagination...that crazy voice in my head!