at home with the piano

fall began only a few days ago, and the last of the summer days are quietly slipping away. this is the time of year my spirit beings to soar, with october being my birth month. i’ll be putting age 33 to rest in a couple of weeks and stepping into another year, hopefully wiser.

lately, in prayers, i’ve been asking God for wisdom, courage and clarity in every action i take. these are qualities my younger self never knew she needed, yet they’re becoming the very foundation in the way i move through each day. whether it’s the way i pour a cup of coffee, or love on my dog rascal, or simply pause to listen to the piano. sometimes it’s my own hands at the keys. sometimes its the sweet sounds of my students learning and sometimes it’s an autumn piano playlist i found online, soothing and calming our home while incense burns quietly.

i feel beyond blessed to say i’ve been learning the piano for 24 years. some seasons have brought tremendous growth while others years have left the keyboard untouched, gathering dust and letting the instrument fall out of tune. no matter the chapter, the piano has always been a presence, a reminder that music, like life, ebbs and flows and always finds its way back home.

i grew up loving the sound of piano in a big band—duke ellington, count basie, even stan kenton. it’s not that my energy has depleted, it’s more that the big band energy is reserved for another season. right now, i find myself surprised by simplicity. i never thought i’d enjoy it, having always been drawn to the wild dissonance that big band jazz brings. but these days, as i watch my students grow and listen to quiet playlists in the background, i feel joy in gentler things: the soft arpeggios, the way a melody falls down like leaves from a tree, steady and certain.

this is what being at home with the piano feels like. not always loud, not always brilliant, but present. like the rhythm of ordinary days. the piano is a faithful companion, teaching me to embrace both the bold and the simple with its own beauty, each with its own season. and right now, i’m learning to rest in the simple.

🤎