It’s September. Traditionally, we’re talking about student schedules, managing our time, how to embrace kindness in those new and often scary experiences, and approaching that chaotic last quarter of the year with a renewed spirit. Um, it’s 2020–this one is far from traditional. While we’re still talking about schedules, time management, kindness, new experiences, and that last quarter, it’s all sorts of different this time around. 

How are you handling it all?

“The best entrepreneurs and most successful people I’ve ever encountered view change as opportunities. Every time an industry is adjusted and the terrain shifts, they don’t get on a soapbox and start complaining. Instead, they analyze the situation and determine how they can adapt, and act, in a way that leaves them better than they would have been if they kept trying to do the same thing.” 

It’s a weird world we live in right now, that’s for sure. Some kids are headed back to traditional brick and mortar schooling this year, while others will be in some sort of distance learning for the foreseeable future. Some parents will be headed back to in-person work, complete with public transportation and all the new physical distancing protocols, while others will do their best to handle remote work in whatever space they’re lucky enough to call home for a while longer. And yet others are out of work and don’t know when their situation will change.

Simultaneously, in most places around the globe, children are home, teachers are instructing in a whole new way, and the threat of an unseen virus is at the heart of it all. We scroll through the memes measuring this time akin to Groundhog’s Day; some of us feel safe at home, while others feel ‘stuck’ in a cycle with an unknown ending.

Through it all, our students are taking in this new ‘normal’ of sorts.

There are so many ways music can speak to, and with, these shifting and changing times. For this part of the adventure of Music for Shifting Times, come along on a journey that takes in dark and light, but always with hope as a companion.

What a strange time we’re all in right now. Half of the world is literally in shutdown or lockdown mode. Kids who only five minutes ago learned in a traditional brick and mortar establishment have been thrust (along with their teachers and staff) into a world of e-learning.

Parents and community members are dealing with fears of a virus and doing their best to maneuver through the ever-changing landscape of rules, regulations, and shifts.

When do you get excited for a trip? The minute you book it, when the calendar page turns to the month of your journey, when you’re packing, when you’re on your way, upon arrival, or from the moment of idea conception? Whenever that travel joy hits, do your eyes brighten, corners of your mouth upturn, shoulders drop, and breathing ebb?

When that first simple joy of travel is upon you...once it hits, it’s hard to let it go. 

In high school, senioritis is as real as it gets. For some, it begins that first day in September when students realize they’re officially the ‘big dogs’ in the building. For others, it’s those last weeks or months taking stock in each moment, each milestone, and getting ready, with both trepidation and excitement, for that next stage after graduation. School years have a start and an end. Whether in homeschooling or traditional brick and mortar ones, one grade finishes before the other fully begins.