Big Fish in a Little Pond

I’m back, two days in a row! Success!!! I’m feeling good about turning over a lot of new leaves in the New Year of 2024! So far, after only 14 days in, I am feeling a newer lease on life as of late, and manifestations seem to be in abundance!

I ended 2023 in a slight slump of depression, nothing like what I used to experience though when I was originally writing hereā€‚But I made up my mind to resettimg and recalibrating. After escaping my former life, I am grateful to have the tools and ability to pull myself out of minor setback depression spells now.

I will be starting another new student this coming Tuesday, music student that is. I am a private Woodwind Teacher and Performer by career for anyone unfamiliar with my background. My music studio saw some drop off during and after the pandemic, along with my performance opportunities. It had almost come to the point that I had begun to accept that the state of influx had perhaps seen its peak prior to the pandemic and that I might never see a return to that status again. But I am truly beginning to see a resurgence in both within the past year steadily and have been feeling even more encouraged in recent months.

This morning, I opened my favorite type of email. The kind that invites me back to play in the pit orchestra for another musical. Being invited back is the best sort in a sense,in my opinion, because your value for the future, in a career that is heavily reliant on word of mouth, who you know, and whose good graces you are in, are all contingent upon how well you impressed someone at your last appearance. I am excited to now have two musicals on the docket already for the year…Into the Woods in February, and now Big Fish in March.

One thing that I have seemed to learn to work the angle in my favor is how to become a Big Fish in a Little Pond. I always figured out back in my younger years that I thrived better in smaller schools or less competitive musical areas. As a Clarinetist, for a primary instrument, which are a dime a dozen in the professional world, I figured out quickly enough, that my true talents as a musician lie in being multi-instrumemtalist. Someone once tried to tell me back in grad school that I was struggling in my clarinet lessons because I was the “Jack of all trades, master of none”, because I had too may interests and passions and didn’t dedicate enough time.solely to clarinet. That has now become my trademark and what has helped me become a Big Fish in a Little Pond of Woodwind Specialists in my area that is now fairly well known, sought out, reputable and highly regarded for being able to play all the woodwind instruments almost equally well. And I am more than happy with where I currently reside in my musical career. I am well on my way towards amping things up more once my 24/7 single parenting duties have graduated to college in 1.5 years when I will have more open time to commit towards advancing my career even further. For now, I couldn’t be more thrilled with my ability to maintain what I do, along with trying to also balance being a good mom, who is constantly on duty, as well!

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