Her name was Mrs. Hicks. She sat me down at the grand piano in her small living room that was painted with pale, lime green walls. I was there for my first piano lesson. She was old, very, very old. Perhaps she was in her late sixties, but in the eyes of a young girl, she was a fossil. She put my first piano book onto the music rest and pressed the seam so it would stay open on the piano. She then proceeded to show me my first note. Middle C. The note rang out like a church bell on that huge instrument. I think my first song consisted of two notes C in the right hand and B in the left.
When I finally was liberated from my 30 minute lesson, which seemed eternally long, I got back home and I sped downstairs to the old piano in our basement. I played the little song, I found it extremely dull. I wanted to really play a song. So, I proceeded to make up songs. I played, and played, figuring out how to make the notes come together and create nice melodies, far more interesting than C-B-C, C-B-C. Thus began the process of weekly lessons and the daily practice of boring songs followed by my own inventions. In a short period of time my daily inventions began to take all of my playing time, and the only time my piano book saw the light of day, was in the living room of old Mrs. Hicks. She was exasperated with me. I could not play the songs she had assigned. I remember a comment she wrote on one of the pages of my book. It read: I can't be bothered with this child! My mother could not understand, she heard me play all of the time, and she thought it sounded pretty good.
I almost quit that year. My mother in her wisdom sought out a new and more flexible teacher that taught me what I needed to learn while still allowing me to create. Afterwards I studied with a few different teachers, and they all propelled me forward year after year until I finished all of my levels in The Royal Conservatory of Music piano program. Mrs. Hicks was a good teacher, I must give her that credit. She just wasn't very patient with children that didn't practice what she had assigned.
During my time learning piano, my mother allowed me to learn other instruments. I learned violin and the flute. We had a guitar at home that I learned to play on. I had sung in church for as long as I could remember and around thirteen years of age I began to write more songs, ones with lyrics that I could sing. In later years I learned to play the drums and produce, arrange songs and do sound engineering.
My life has always revolved around music. From the time I was eighteen years old, up until this day, I have always taught others my craft. Sometimes along with teaching music, life's circumstances had led me to occasional different jobs, I have been a waitress, vacuum saleswoman, retail store clerk, sound engineer, house musician and entertainer, cosmetician, music school director, elementary school English and Science teacher.I have many stories to tell about those different life experiences and the people that I met during those times, but that will come later.
Eventually through some fortunate events and hard work, I finally opened my present recording and teaching studio. I am back being a self-employed entrepreneur full time. One of the ways I have streamlined my day and schedule is through adopting the principles or ideas of minimalism. Stripping away the superfluous things in life and leaving only what is truly meaningful and important.
That is what this website is about, the why and how-to, to get rid of what is weighing you down, so that you can discover and live from your passion. Mine is music, yours may be something completely different. It may be travel or painting. Maybe it is cooking or writing. Perhaps you love getting out and meeting new people and that is what you are most passionate about. Whatever your dreams and passions are, I hope that you may find a little bit of life inspiration from my words.
Until then, think of what you truly love. If you could do anything you wanted, without restraint, what would you spend your day doing?
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