It has been nineteen long months of living in the worries of this pandemic. Uncertainty leaves us very much in a stressful world. We are resilient people and also driven, high achievers. For many of us, giving ourselves a break, taking it a little easier or simply slowing down is not easy. We are tough on ourselves and also model this behavior for our children.

The Center for Disease Control says that there are factors of well-being that can be overlooked: "what people think and feel about their lives, such as the quality of their relationships, their positive emotions and resilience, the realization of their potential, or their overall satisfaction with life."

In the bigger picture, I hope you are all doing well. If we can say to ourselves that maybe today is not the day to practice the new piece, tackle the year end report, or clean out the garage, then maybe we can say yes to a little down time, a little music, and a little quality time. As a practicing strategy, sometimes it is okay to say: "let's play your favorite piece today," or "let's play the Twinkle variations." Going to the fundamental joys of what is easy to do, for a child, is a huge pleasure! It builds confidence to play something easy. It allows the brain to remember important details and to retain repertoire.

Dr. Suzuki often said: "never hurry, never rest." What that means is that this is a long journey in educating our children. Repetition is good. If your child is learning to read, reading the same book over and over is not a bad thing. It is allowing the child to remark on details he may not have noticed before. The child builds confidence through repetition.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend. I hope you can come hear our Suzuki School students perform at the Harvest Fair in Newton Center at 12 noon on Sunday, Oct. 17th. I hope you can all listen to beautiful music over the radio, on the TV, through your smart phones, or even in person. Finding joy in the simple things and continuing the journey without hurry, will surely get you there.