vol. 24: ‘24!
“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
– John Steinbeck
Bonne année mes ami(e)s!! It’s nice to be back in Montreal in my little loft on the Plateau, prepping for a busy semester of studies, gigs (more on that below), and yoga teaching (three classes a week!). I’ve spent the last few days re-orienting my living room/work space, changing up my art work, and burning candles at every opportunity.
My new year’s routine has mellowed over the years. For starters, Jews often use Yom Kippur/Rosh Hashanah as the time to really take stock of where they’ve gone wrong on a spiritual level (and boyyyy can that time be a doozy!). So, doing a whole list on New Year’s as well can feel like a lot. Plus there’s all that research about how resolutions don’t work (the truly wise know better…!).
Some of the most poignant advice I heard when I was “going through it” a few years ago was from a Ted Talk called “Choices That Can Change Your Life.” In it, Caroline Myss argues that the biggest decisions you make in life are not the obvious ones like getting married or divorced or having children, but the little choices you make everyday regarding how you live your life. I try to carry this wisdom with me and strive to do better on a day to day level (though I did enjoy the 2023/24 trends of making In’s/Out’s lists!!!).
Speaking of big decisions, I spent my morning today listening to my great-uncle Sydney’s BBC Desert Island Disc program he recorded over ten years ago. Although Sydney isn’t a trained musician, I found his thoughts on music and Mozart, particularly, so astute and poignant. I also loved hearing the story of how he met my great-aunt Felicia. He explained on the program that when she agreed to marry him, she stipulated that she would only do so for a three-year period. At the end of the three years, they would check in again. Four children and many decades of check-ins later, their marriage endured. Such wise chutzpah! (He also shared that my great-aunt thought one should change careers every 25 years… more food for thought!)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rl0z9
(Also available on Spotify/Apple Podcasts)
For those in the Toronto area, next week I’m excited to be giving a free concert at the Canadian Opera Company’s Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre on January 9th at noon with my wonderful colleague/friend, the pianist Isabelle David. It features music by Second Viennese School composers (Schoenberg, Berg, Alma Mahler, Viktor Ullmann, Zemlinsky, Korngold…) as well as the Canadian premiere of a Yiddish song cycle about New York City by my friend Alex Weiser. If you’re around, please come out and see us! <3
Xox
À la prochaine.