Today is my due date and I am grumpy. Things are really going downhill. My hips and back hurt so much that there is very little I can do anymore. The pain will actually wake me in the night. I've had a couple contractions but nothing ever comes of them. So I'm wondering how I'm going to cope with labor when I'm so miserable going into it. I'm sleep deprived, my hips hurt too much to walk, my back hurts too much to lie down or bend down and my nausea is wearing me out. I was in better shape last week but now I'm worried that I'm going to just be an emotional, exhausted mess when labor actually starts.
I've been doing a few things to help ease my mind. I made motivational flashcards for people to read to me when I'm feeling defeated. I've put out all the candles and incense I want for labor. I've been listening to songs that I find really calming (like this one).
I've also been practicing my labor breathing to get me through those moments of "I can't take it anymore!" Everything seems to be taking the edge off but I'm still feeling really frustrated. Come out! Come out! I promise it will be nice out here!!
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Jose Smith
My Uncle Joe (aka Jose Smith) is such a talented musician. When I was only about 2 years old he introduced me to the harp. I thought it was just about the coolest thing and about 10 years after that I started taking harp lessons myself. There is no doubt in my mind that my Uncle Joe helped stir a true love of music within me and for that I will be forever thankful.
He plays more than just the harp though, he is also quite talented at the guitar. Jon has decided to learn the guitar and I know he and I both wish my Uncle Joe was near by to share his wonderful gift with us.
I completely admire him for his wonderful ability to share the joy of music with others. He regularly plays at a children's hospital in California, providing music as a form of therapy and healing. He is such an amazing person.
Below are a couple of his YouTube videos. He also has a website where you can purchase CDs or book him for events.
He plays more than just the harp though, he is also quite talented at the guitar. Jon has decided to learn the guitar and I know he and I both wish my Uncle Joe was near by to share his wonderful gift with us.
I completely admire him for his wonderful ability to share the joy of music with others. He regularly plays at a children's hospital in California, providing music as a form of therapy and healing. He is such an amazing person.
Below are a couple of his YouTube videos. He also has a website where you can purchase CDs or book him for events.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Music
I'm surprised I haven't done a post about this yet. Music is a huge part of my life. I've been playing the piano since I was four or five, singing since I was 8 or 9 and played a variety of instruments in between. Music was my savior getting through school. Whenever things were overwhelming or I felt stressed I would sit down at the piano and just play or hop in the shower and just sing. Music used a totally different part of my brain than homework did and it was quite literally a break for my poor tired brain. It was the perfect outlet for rage, sadness and every creative idea I had. I've tried many instruments over the years; viola, harp, ukulele, guitar, but my favorites (that I still play) are my piano, singing, and cello.
I'm classically trained. I play Bach, Mozart, Schumann and I sing Purcell and Mozart. Yes, I love to listen to opera and classical music but I have a deep appreciation (and maybe a little envy) for people who play other types of music. I wish I could play jazz, if fact I tried for about a year to learn jazz but it was so hard.
Music was not something that just came easily to me (perhaps singing was a little easier for me because I was genetically predisposed to being able to sing) and still doesn't, I've really had to work hard to reap the rewards. I will definitely admit that there were times that I wanted to give it all up because it was too frustrating. In fact I did give up piano for a full year but I missed it so much that I couldn't stand it and now the longest I've gone without playing was the 5 weeks I spent in Europe. I had this idea that music would be easy for me because my paternal great-grandfather was a professional opera singer with the Philadelphia Opera and my maternal great-grandmother was also an opera singer. My paternal grandmother was an accomplished pianist and even taught lessons. I really thought it should just be in my blood but it wasn't. It was a lot of work and a lot of time. But it has really paid off. I can now sit down and play almost anything I hear, or sing most pieces that are put before me and that it a good feeling.
If I love music so much, why did I not pursue as a career? I sing and play music for me and only me. If someone enjoys listening then that is great and flattering, but I do it because it makes me happy. I feel like if I did it for money, as a career, it would lose that ability to relieve my stress and make me happy. Plus, it is so personally. I feel like it part of who I am. Every time I would go to an audition and they would critique me, it was surprisingly hard to take because it felt like a critique of my personality. It disappointed my father very much when I decided not to enter the music department at UVic but I couldn't handle losing myself by making my music work.
I believe that music is healing. I believe that it makes you better able to handle life's challenges. Even if you do not play, listening to music can relieve your stress. I think that all children should be exposed to music and given the opportunity to try creating music. I feel like crying when I hear of music programs being cut from our schools. How can they take away from children such a wonderful opportunity to be creative? If there are any parents that are reading this, my hope is that you offer music to your children. It doesn't matter how old they are or if they are "musical", it is important to all of us. If you would like to read more about the importance of music to children, this is an essay on The Importance of Music in Early Childhood or this article called Music and the Mind.
Because I know there are not many people who read this blog, I've decided to share some of my music with those select readers. Here is a piece of music I composted for a contested on the piano, click here. This piece is one that I would use for auditions, click here. And here is a taste of my opera selections, click here. Sorry about the quality, they all were recorded on a mic on my mp3 player that was about the size of grain of rice. Hope you enjoy them.
I'm classically trained. I play Bach, Mozart, Schumann and I sing Purcell and Mozart. Yes, I love to listen to opera and classical music but I have a deep appreciation (and maybe a little envy) for people who play other types of music. I wish I could play jazz, if fact I tried for about a year to learn jazz but it was so hard.
Music was not something that just came easily to me (perhaps singing was a little easier for me because I was genetically predisposed to being able to sing) and still doesn't, I've really had to work hard to reap the rewards. I will definitely admit that there were times that I wanted to give it all up because it was too frustrating. In fact I did give up piano for a full year but I missed it so much that I couldn't stand it and now the longest I've gone without playing was the 5 weeks I spent in Europe. I had this idea that music would be easy for me because my paternal great-grandfather was a professional opera singer with the Philadelphia Opera and my maternal great-grandmother was also an opera singer. My paternal grandmother was an accomplished pianist and even taught lessons. I really thought it should just be in my blood but it wasn't. It was a lot of work and a lot of time. But it has really paid off. I can now sit down and play almost anything I hear, or sing most pieces that are put before me and that it a good feeling.
If I love music so much, why did I not pursue as a career? I sing and play music for me and only me. If someone enjoys listening then that is great and flattering, but I do it because it makes me happy. I feel like if I did it for money, as a career, it would lose that ability to relieve my stress and make me happy. Plus, it is so personally. I feel like it part of who I am. Every time I would go to an audition and they would critique me, it was surprisingly hard to take because it felt like a critique of my personality. It disappointed my father very much when I decided not to enter the music department at UVic but I couldn't handle losing myself by making my music work.
I believe that music is healing. I believe that it makes you better able to handle life's challenges. Even if you do not play, listening to music can relieve your stress. I think that all children should be exposed to music and given the opportunity to try creating music. I feel like crying when I hear of music programs being cut from our schools. How can they take away from children such a wonderful opportunity to be creative? If there are any parents that are reading this, my hope is that you offer music to your children. It doesn't matter how old they are or if they are "musical", it is important to all of us. If you would like to read more about the importance of music to children, this is an essay on The Importance of Music in Early Childhood or this article called Music and the Mind.
Because I know there are not many people who read this blog, I've decided to share some of my music with those select readers. Here is a piece of music I composted for a contested on the piano, click here. This piece is one that I would use for auditions, click here. And here is a taste of my opera selections, click here. Sorry about the quality, they all were recorded on a mic on my mp3 player that was about the size of grain of rice. Hope you enjoy them.
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