Being Together:

I’m a believer in face to face (and I don’t mean on zoom) at least part of the time. Yes, there are times when everything you’re doing is on a laptop and there’s no need for in person. Save time from your commute and get things done at home. But in any collaborative environment, people need to BE TOGETHER. I haven’t worked at a start-up (except my own – at an entirely different pace and scale) but I know in the nonprofit world nothing replaces real-time relationships and the ability to be in a room together. So much is communicated through body language that gets lost in the zoom room. And the energy of bodies in the same space has an incomparable effect on the sharing of ideas.

What I did (learned) on summer vacation: 

wasn’t that a grade school question? It feels more relevant today. Whether as a solopreneur or the leader of a non profit, taking a break feels incredibly necessary but can be a bit fraught.

I had the great joy of spending a week at Maine Fiddle Camp, which some folks describe as Brigadoon. The place reminds me of a kibbutz in the best sense. The community encompasses every age and ability in the ‘service’ of making music. Together. People are playing from 7 am til 2 am. I am not the early bird or the late bird but it is lovely to wake up to and go to sleep to the sound of people harmonizing.
It is the ethos of the place that makes such an impression. Community is key. As is inclusivity. Respect for each other and the place (including fencing off an area where some birds were nesting.) There are very “rustic” bunks or you can sleep in a tent by the lake (nothing better than being in a dry tent during a deluge.) Good food and great appreciation for the cooks and volunteers who feed over 300 (with gluten-free and other dietary options,) great teaching, and full PARTICIPATION – as players and audience members. It is a glimpse of a world of joy. I feel so lucky to have discovered this gem a few years ago. I wish that everyone – musician or not – could experience this kind of harmony if only for a day or two.

Transitions:

Thanks to Jaime Kobin for this fantastic article. My takeaways: “Contrary to what we typically think, we don’t resist change (external event). We resist the process of Transition (the inner and emotional aspects involved with change). We resist letting go of the way it was or we thought it was…Transition is made up of three stages:

Endings: which often result in sadness, anger, or remorse. We start with Endings because we don’t begin something without something ending. We can’t move ahead without leaving something else behind. Something is being lost and we need to learn to let go. We need to realize that people grieve for what was lost.

The Neutral Zone: which results in fear and confusion. It is not so much that we are afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but we fear that place in between … The Neutral Zone is akin to being caught between trapezes—dangling above a great height. We are scared to let go of the trapeze when we don’t see another one within reach.

New Beginnings: a mix of confidence over what has been gained and anxiety about what has been lost and worrying about slipping back into old habits.
Interestingly, we don’t mind endings or new beginnings as much as we dread the Neutral Zone. That is why we go from one bad job to another, one bad relationship to another. We don’t take the time in the Neutral Zone to process, reflect, and learn about why it ended or why the change took place. Bruce Feiler, author of Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age, refers to the Neutral Zone as the Messy Middle because of the uncertainty and uncomfortableness.”