• What fills you up?

    January 27, 2019 - By 

    This year of travel has offered me some profound learning experiences, none more than this simple lesson: impermanence teaches you what you want to be permanent. When everything is temporary, it gets obvious what you want to keep around. Traveling full-time often means energy reserves are low and sleep is minimal, so I’ve become acutely aware of who and what requires energy, and who and what refills my reserves. Motivation is a scarce resource, and only certain activities that you’re truly passionate about can keep you going. These activities form a kind of “energy symbiosis;” they may drain you, but…

  • Life is short – Go to LA

    June 15, 2018 - By 

    I crash-landed onto my bandmate’s couch after an exhausting but rewarding day of teaching. I had finally stopped, but my brain continued its inner debate about whether a last-minute trip to California simply to “relax” was a good idea. It seemed so silly, yet I found my “reckless brain” fighting hard to convince my “rational brain” to book the flight. I was torn. A series of events had brought the idea for this short visit to the surface, and my curiosity to re-experience this particular city wasn’t letting go. It was a warm Michigan evening and still light out at…

  • THE BADLANDS | Strength in kindness

    May 25, 2018 - By 

    I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions on Pine Ridge Reservation, but unfortunately they lived up to every troubling story I had heard. My heritage is Native, and it’s always pained me to know that the American Indian population is amongst the most impoverished and oppressed in the country. I knew I wanted to help, but until recently I just wasn’t sure what I could offer. Having spent the last seven years teaching music enrichment clinics, I’ve begun to more fully understand music’s ability to access and empower students, particularly those who are struggling in…