Life and Lists

Sometimes it feels like there’s living and then there’s ticking off lists so you have time to live. And when you finally get to the end of the list (which will then regenerate five seconds after you completed the last task), sometimes it feels like you’ve forgotten how to live. 

It has been a busy, busy time these past couple of weeks. Every time I teach a class to kids, it feels like the real deal. Life in all its splendor and difficulty. But when the classes come relentlessly at the same time as report cards at the same time as packing for the next round of teaching in Salzburg at the same time as answering the needed e-mails to clear the deck at the same time as paying bills at the same time as… well, you get the picture. I’m still some 10 e-mails short of “finished” and my suitcase is not quite packed with my flight taking off within four hours, but I’m getting close to that feeling of relief that I got through it all and am ready to live again. 

Lists are inevitable and so is life and it’s best when the two are joined at the hip so that the item on the list IS part of the life, no matter how mundane. It’s all about how much and when and with what deadlines and with what kind of attention you can bring to each thing. Sometimes the lists overwhelm the living and sometimes the living allows you to drop the list and fully feel the coming of Spring. The calendar announced it, but to wholly know it means to sit amongst the flowers with a bit of warm sun on your face. 

I’m taking a step backward into Winter with this trip to Salzburg, but that means I can feel all over again Winter give way to Spring. I hope. Meanwhile, off to pack thick sweaters and medium-weight shirts. And whether Winter or Spring prevail, the Salzburg hills will be alive with the sound of music—well, at least inside the Orff Institut—and I’m ready to wholly sing in the choir.