MARCH 2024
BACK TO PERFORMING ARTS
When I was in middle school, I wanted to be an actress. I tried out for the school play – I was very confident in my ability to read/act, and sing. I had a very strong belting voice and had been singing all my life, on my own, in the school chorus and the church choir. But when I sang the high notes in “Bushel and a Peck” for my audition, my voice was gone – light and airy. The teacher had me try twice more to sing those high notes louder, but it wasn’t happening. So I didn’t get the part. I got some bit part in the chorus I think. Didn’t matter. That was the end. If only I’d had YouTube back then. Or any kind of help from a grown up/teacher. Finally, after a very cool series of events I’ll share another time, I took voice lessons at the age of 26. Soon after I went to school for Music Therapy, nailing my audition. I raised my daughter (four years old at the time), met my husband, had my son, and after shifting my work from running Music Therapy groups to music lessons to photography to teaching cake decorating…I felt lost and uninspired. So I took improv classes at Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, NY. It was so much fun, I took acting class there too – not as much fun. I prefer the freedom of creating dialogue. I got to work at Gateway, acting in their haunted attraction during the pandemic. I took a musical theater class there a couple years ago, learning how to bring meaning to a song meant for the stage. And then this past Fall my son played percussion in the pit orchestra of our local community theater. He is a high school senior now, so it’s time for me. Time to do the things I’ve wanted to do while there’s still time and ability to do them. Time for me to get back up on the stage. In a show called “Follies” by legendary Broadway producer Stephen Sondheim. I auditioned, unsure if it would be worth my time and effort, but it was really fun so when I was offered a part – I said yes! Rehearsals have just begun, with the show this May at the North Fork Community Theater in Matttituck. I am tickled and grateful and excited and glad to be part of a creative project like this. Not only do I get to act and sing in a show, I get to dance too! I love to dance. And not only that – I get to show my art during the show’s run! Life is good.
JUNE 2023
ART SHOW!
My latest love is Paint Pouring! I created my first pour in Fall of 2021. And since then have gone on jags where it’s all I can think about or want to do. It feels like a guilty pleasure, even now. The satisfaction I get when the colors I pour combine and the composition is pleasing is unmatched. I love the next day when I’ve forgotten just what was so magical about the pour, and see it again. The paintings I’ve chosen to keep – there are many, so many, that are scrapped for many reasons (too much or too little paint, paint consistency, too much or little of a specific color, poor composition/lack of unity…)- the ones I keep are very special to me and have a personality all their own. Most reflect nature in some way…the elements…fire, water, air, earth and ether/space. I have decided to share these works I love so much. I will be showing them in the month of August at my local library. If you are reading this, I urge you to stop in and check them out. Even better, come say ‘Hi’ during the Artist’s Reception!
SEPTEMBER 2022
BACK TO MUSIC
I love SUP for so many reasons. It has brought me so much health – both mental and physical – and happiness. Before the pandemic I was considering going back to music therapy. I was also considering offering stand up paddleboarding lessons and tours. I’d taught piano and guitar lessons for many years. I thought it would be wonderful to get outside and share something I love and do all the time. I thought it would be simple, as music lessons had been. I was wrong. Then fate stepped in and brought me the perfect opportunity to pivot my aspiration.
As a music therapy student senior year, you must choose the population you will devote over 900 hours interning (learning how and working for free) with. As a single mother of a 7 year old, I chose preschoolers with disabilities. The site was walking distance from my apartment and I was good (still am!) with kids. This was not my first choice, but the best choice for my circumstance. I worked in the preschool/elementary school space after graduating and although skilled, was unhappy, split in so many directions. I ran my own business for a number of years. After my son was born and I solely taught music lessons, I took the opportunity to enjoy learning and experiencing arts I never had time to explore.
I fell in love with photography. And jewelry making. And cake decorating. I painted a few watercolors. In more recent years I’ve explored and researched how sound and sound healing instruments affect our mind, body and spirit. I’ve also delved into more mystical arts like tarot, NDE’s, life between lives, past life regression, astrology, numerology, Abraham-Hicks, and how our thoughts create our reality. I enjoy learning what is scientifically proven, what is pseudo-science, and what works for me – which happens to be somewhere in between.
I was trained in 2019 to facilitate drum circles – a favorite memory from my college years – and learned about the use of tuning forks. The very large crystal sound bowl I’d had for over 20 years broke and I got a full set of crystal bowls in its place. I learned that if I have a migraine headache and put my head over the largest bowl allowing the sound to resonate in and around my head, the headache goes away. I learned that if I use the body tuning forks on my head, the perfect 5th interval, my posture aligns immediately, whether I’m thinking about it or not. Every time. I have an interest in learning that has not abated in my 50 years on the planet. I continue to learn each day. I think it is time to share some of that knowledge, in the hopes that maybe someone somewhere can benefit without doing all the research I have. Also maybe have some fun while doing so.
All this to say – I’m back baby! (said in the voice of George Costanza from Seinfeld)
JULY 2022
HOW I STARTED SUPing
It’s been so many years now since that first paddle. Local place charged 20 bucks to take a board out on the creek. It weighed like 50 pounds. A big ol’ Bic SUP. A tank. I couldn’t really lift it. Kid gave me a heavy plastic paddle, a pfd and put the board on the water for me. ‘Be back in an hour.’ Not sure if I took that long. Not sure I even wore a leash. I paddled down to a small ‘island’ in that marsh and back. Such a short distance by today’s standards! I still think of it when I’m in that creek now. Balancing wasn’t hard, probably b/c the board was so gigantic and I’m small – back then (2013) I was heavier than I am now too. All I remember from that first time is how when I got home that afternoon I napped the deepest most restorative sleep ever. There’s something to this, I thought. I wanted to try again. I did go again once later that year. The following year I went again a couple of times – my SIL got a board by then that could go on the ocean. What a disaster – I knew nothing about board type and size and how to balance, and was trying to stand up on a much smaller board with ocean waves along my side – of course I fell in! It didn’t help that a couple in the water nearby kept laughing at me. Rude. No matter. We took it on the bay side and that was great. The following Spring I got my first board for my birthday, and I was off to the races! (so to speak). I learned all I could from researching technique online, and when I took a workshop the following year, I got feedback that I knew what I was doing! I also got to try racing and realized it was not for me. I didn’t like the feeling of pressure to go fast and people splashing all around me. I did well, but it wasn’t fun for me. I did, however, push myself from that point on and try to better my speed using a tracking app. I got quite fast but ended up injuring my shoulder to the point of being unable to lift my arm in 2019. Then I learned all about technique to protect your shoulders and why having a carbon fiber paddle without give, a longer paddle length, pushing down the paddle with my hand above shoulder height all contributed to my injury. I have learned so much since that first time!