Waking Up!

As I was waking up this morning, I realized that I was happy. For me, it is always a good feeling to wake up like this because there are days when I don't.

As I walked to the bathroom to wash my face, I realized that the good feeling was a result of the wonderfully productive day I had yesterday. Yesterday, I practiced my violin, composed a few measures of a new choral work I am working on, wrote some poetry, worked on a new scene from our new opera we call 'Lily', saw a movie, and completed some of my graduate work assignments on "gifted children" ... It was a full day as an artist,not to mention the wonderful time I had with my daughter and talking with my awesome boyfriend.

The older I get, the more I realize that it is the diversity of my work as a creative artist that makes me happy. I realize that I cannot 'BE' one kind of artist. It is too confining and yet I must be a musician. I must play an instrument. I must compose and I must compose all kinds of music. I must write and I must write all kinds of things...because all of these 'things' are what make me happy.

Still ... I want more because the world has so much to give ... my graduate coursework tells me I need to complete my Ph.D. So to add to that joy of 'doing' and 'being', I will begin my Ph.D. program in August. I want to study Educational Pyschology and tie together what I know about music, music making and learning.

Yesterday was good because I received my conditional acceptance from my on-line Ph.D. program. I am excited about that experience ahead.

With all these 'goings-on', I truly think that a person can only be happy when they are busy ... busy doing what makes them happy. For me, it is waking up to the realization that doing what makes me happy is doing EVERYTHING! ... and doing EVERYTHING is O.K.