Keepin' On Keeping' On

 

A confession. During all the packing getting ready for my 4-week Australia/Asia tour, I had a brief moment where I thought, “I almost wish I was just staying home.” Easier, more comfortable, enjoying my routine and getting to cook my own meals. But having just completed the first day of my Sydney Jazz Course, it’s crystal clear. I am nowhere near ready to stop doing this work. Not even close.

 

Yes, the jet lag is still lingering and I didn’t eat well today and I missed my daily walk, but it was a glorious day with 36 teachers who deeply impressed me with their musicality, filled the room with their bubbly spirit and clearly both enjoyed and were inspired by the material I shared and the commentary I added. It’s an embarrassment of riches—the physical joy of making great music together, the satisfaction of sharing the pedagogy that makes children happy to the people most capable of hearing it, the extra perk of adding my social/ political/ spiritual commentary that runs through these blogposts and seeing the nodding heads of people happy to hear them spoken out loud in public. Six hours passed like six minutes and I believe all of us left with the strong feeling that this was a day well spent. 

 

So yes, I believe I will keep on keepin’ on as long as such joy is present for both me and the participants. I believe I will notice when it starts to wane and hopefully, withdraw gracefully. But for now, I agree wholeheartedly with poet Robert Browning: I am in the full flowering of the seeds planted, tended and daily watered in the first part of my life and I imagine yet more vibrant blooms to come. 

 

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!”