Diversity

Something that I love about my work is the diversity of experiences I have and the interesting people I meet. Yesterday morning was my gig playing guitar at the gym.  I love playing music in unexpected places.  I play in an area where folks sit and read the paper or wait for a friend or relax. In the two hour stint I am there playing, many come and sit next to me. Some of them never acknowledge they are listening but I can see that they are. I know because they stop and close their eyes and seem to slow down and take a deep breath. It seems we are all going all the time at 90 miles an hour. I love to play slow music to help people slow down.

Then yesterday afternoon was my new songwriting class I am teaching at a home school enrichment center in town. I am really excited about being part of this community! I felt like I fit right in and you can see in my picture above that I was feeling happy and at home. I had a good time with my young students and look forward to getting to know them more.

Today, I worked in a few ICUs at the hospital. I was struck by one woman, whom I was told never had any visitors. I went to her and played my guitar by her side. After about 10 minutes, she raised her hand and made a motion with her finger as if to say, "come here."  (she could not speak because of tubes in her mouth from a respirator machine). So, I went to her and she tried to tell me what she wanted. After some guesswork, it was that she wanted me to take the tubing out of her mouth. Of course, I am not allowed to do things like that and I told her so.  When I told her I would get the nurse, she nodded, "no" and pointed to me. I said, "I am sorry, I know you are uncomfortable but I can only play music for you. Would you like for me to continue?" This went on back and forth for about 30 minutes. Eventually I had to leave her because I could see that she only wanted me to help free her from the machines and I could not do that. My presence was agitating her more, though I tried to bring her peace. I rubbed her arm and said, "I am sorry  but they are helping you to heal " and I left her. It sometimes goes this way.

There you have my work in two days, lots of varied experiences. All of which I value so much.