My Life Is Not Twitteriffic

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 (1:13am)
My Life Is Not Twitteriffic...

Yes, I have a twitter account. I actually check it every few days to see what my friends are doing. Normally I sit there trying to think of something to write in 140 letters or less, or however many they give you to make a definitive statement about your life. Normally the best I can come up with is "gee, nope... I still got nothin'" Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't have plenty of things going on that are meaningful to me. (Although about 90% of what some of my friends post I would file under T.M.I. I don't really need to know about when they get their nails done... or in the case of some of the guys... the details of their bowel movements. It's like we've all reverted to being back in summer camp.)

I do think it's interesting though that there's some kind of built in desire in most of us for connection, even if it's just quickly touching base. Twitter is great for that. Sometimes these wonderful little gems slip by just when I get a chance to look. Tonight one of my friends was writing a mutual friend there she had this great quote for her: "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."That quote from Khalil Gibran was just what I needed to read at thatmoment.

Normally the real stuff my life is made of just doesn't work on Twitter.A lot of the stuff I look at as really eventful has to do with relationships. They are quiet moments that don't condense well.Twitter is great for action stuff... "I'm going here... I'm doing this... I ate this... I just saw... etc." All those things can be fun for me to read. The truth is that I spend about 12 -14 hours a day in my teaching studio with a steady stream of people coming in and out every half hour. All of them are these amazing, unique individuals that I get to interact with. Part of what happens here is that I teach themhow to play an instrument. The greater thing that happens here is that we effect each other's lives.

For some reason, many times people start lessons with me at major turning points. They are looking for something that will be fun and entertaining and will help take away some of their stress andhelp them focus on something else for awhile. Some of them show upwhen an important relationship has just ended. Others come because they are care givers to someone who is very ill and they need a break.The teenagers I teach normally just want to have fun playing music.Still they always have the daily stresses of trying to navigate a worldthat isn't always friendly to them, while they are trying to figure outwho they are. I love watching them grow. There are always so many stories.

Sometimes life gets overwhelming to me. My work schedule is brutal and I just get exhausted. But I love my students. I love who they are. Ilove their stories. I love getting a ring side seat to watch their livesunfold. A couple of things happened recently right when I wasdoubting my sanity at choosing my current profession. Neither makes good twitter material but both were wonderful in their own way.

I got a phone call from one of my old students wanting to come back and do some more lessons. She left a message on my answering machine. She said "I don't' really remember that much about the guitar part of our lessons, but I do remember that you helped get me through a really dark season in my life and I'm doing a lot better now." It's easy in the midst of the tiredness to forget that how we interactwith each other can be life changing. (It also turns out she remembered a lot more guitar than she gave herself credit for too.)

The other incident involved one of my old students. When we met,she had just ended a long term relationship with someone she lovedbut who wasn't good for her ultimately. She was questioning if shewould find someone else she would be really compatible with. As timewent by she did meet someone and fall in love. They were married and after a series of miscarriages had a healthy baby boy. She's hadan amazing journey. We were having lunch together. She was holdingher son, who's just getting strong enough to hold himself up. His back was leaning against her. In the middle of our conversation he reached over incredibly tenderly and put his hand on her cheek and put his head next to hers. At that point we both got teary eyed. I could tell that for both of us that one gesture on his part summed up her life journey. I'm so thankful to have the chance to be there to witness it.Such is my life. But for twitter... "nope... still got nothin."