Hello hello, and welcome to Episode 91 of Life On the Brink!
Today I return to the podcast after a week of playing music on the road. I was on a real tour! Naturally, the past week has been so interesting and so different from my usual routine of garden-tending and grocery shopping, and the change of pace has re-introduced some very important aspects of living well that I sometimes forget about. Namely, being open to the “new” or “unusual,” and just embracing each moment as it comes.
Don’t get me wrong, I love planning and developing a steady routine, but there’s nothing like the open road to remind you that some of life’s sweetest moments come only by surprise.
This week I’d like to share a few of those moments and how they have refreshed my outlook on the rest of this summer season.
What’s in my teacup? A warm matcha latte
First, let me set the scene.
I’ve performed for the past 5 years with two of my closest friends, Jeanette and Caroline, in a group called the Truetone Honeys. We sing 100-year-old female jazz trio tunes (think Andrews Sisters and all their predecessors) and in the past we’ve mostly performed with a jazz band behind us. BUT this year we decided to do something new and hit the road with only our voices and our own instruments. We packed into a big van and played 5 shows in 5 nights from Baltimore, Maryland to Asheville, North Carolina, staying at family and friends’ homes along the way.
Now, I’ve traveled to play gigs before, but never in a set show for multiple dates like this. I mean, we put together a real tour! It was exciting and nerve-wracking, but ultimately full of an unexpected amount of ease and fun. Fortunately, fun was the main objective for all three of us. Hopefully this week has been the beginning of a new kind of artistic project for us, and I’m more excited than I’ve ever been to work toward that.
Alrighty then, you get the picture. I’d now like to bring forward three interesting takeaways and pleasant reminders that I encountered along the way.
1. Be open to new things. For me, this was perfectly manifested in a tin of sardines, a food that has never appealed to me for whatever reason. Well, now it’s sardine summer and I’m telling you, don’t knock it til you try it.
Now, I probably wouldn’t have tried sardines for many more years to come if it hadn’t been for Jeanette, who is a fan of all tinned fishes. It was day 2 of our trip and we were decompressing after our show at the historic bed and breakfast where we were staying. I’d almost exhausted my snacks and was craving protein, so I ended up joining Jeanette in a snack of sardines. Even better, one of our new friends from the inn appeared with a tray of cheese, crackers, olives and roasted garlic. I don’t know if it was the ambience of that beautiful place or the fact that I was so hungry, but this was the most delicious and satisfying snack! I was completely converted and am now a sardine girly.
The thing is, I consider myself an adventurous eater. Why did it take me so long to discover something else I like? Upon reflection, I think it’s just because we are creatures of habit. Without realizing it, we can gravitate to the same things in life (not just with snacks, mind) over and over, and sometimes it just takes another person, another voice to let those new joys be introduced. It’s been a long time since I’ve discovered something new like this in the culinary world, so I’m excited! Try something new, what do you have to lose?
2. Embrace a change of scenery and schedule. Again, this is simply because we all tend to crave a little stability and become creatures of habit. That’s ok! I love my home, family and the schedule that Josh and I have developed together. Every now and then, though, I think it’s beneficial to abandon all that and see what’s out there. For me during this week of travel, it was mostly a shift to my sleep and work schedule.
Most evenings you’ll find me at home, and I have never really been one who likes to be out late or “partying” in the traditional sense. On this tour, though, every night was a late night and I could be found sharing a drink and chatting with someone I only met that night. Fortunately, I had my girls to lean on and we were only in environments where I felt safe to do so. I also met so many kind and interesting people during this trip, and I feel as though my scope and circle has broadened just a little more.
Would I want to live this lifestyle all the time? Certainly not, it was exhausting, but abandoning my schedule every now and then is definitely worth it. Leaving the rigidity of my schedule for a short time helped create such unique memories.
3. Enjoy the experience just for today. As a musician, it’s easy to see every concert as simply a stepping stone to the next concert. Every gig is a connection to the next gig and so on, always moving toward whatever “making it” is. I was so fortunate in that me and my bandmates all agreed that this past week was simply for the fun of it. Sure, things will come out of it and we’ll have a fully developed trio show by the end of the week, but it was more about the actual act of playing music and traveling together.
I would love to embrace this attitude even more in my daily life. Even while preparing for the future, what if I enjoyed the experience of the day, meal, date night, quiet morning, or cup of tea in front of me? Likewise, every time I go to work and teach or play music, what if it was enough to simply be making that music on that day? It takes so much pressure off!
Summer is made for spontaneity, and I hope these takeaways have encouraged and refreshed you as they have me. Why not take some pressure off yourself and say yes to new things? There’s so much out there to experience and enjoy, maybe just in a tin of sardines.
This Week’s Little Joy: My glass cake stand, and all the things I’ve put in it. For over a month now, I’ve been baking in some capacity at least once a week and it has brought such joy! I’ve been storing the various muffins and cakes under the glass dome of my favorite cake stand, it’s just made the kitchen feel that much more cozy as we continue to renovate. This week’s bake: nectarine cardamom galette.
What I’m Listening To: While on this trip, my friend Jeanette took us to a very cool spot in Richmond for lunch that had a really great playlist. Every track was different, but the overall vibe was one I loved. I asked our server what they were playing, and it turned out to be a Spotify-made playlist called “Global Groove.” I’ve been listening since and have found several cool artists that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about. I highly recommend this playlist!
Thank you so much for listening! Feel free to leave a comment, or head to Apple Podcasts to leave a star rating or review. If you have any suggestions for future episodes, send an email in the contact form on this site. I’d love to hear from you, have a great week, friend!