Our Broadway Bound staff for 2016 (ages 17-60!)
I spent ever day last week surrounded by Youth. As I do every summer, I worked at a musical theater camp where there were 30 young people between the ages of 10 and 18, as well as a few “older” young people (in their early thirties). This is one of my favorite musical activities, but at the start of the week I was a little concerned about my ability to keep up with all the energy they were sure to exude.
However, I discovered something wonderful about energy: it’s contagious. I certainly needed an infusion of positive energy, and that’s just what I got, enough to last through four or five hours at the piano, then come home; cook dinner; walk the dogs; and tend to the flowers.
Broadway Bound campers
I enjoyed all those bright, eager young faces with their enthusiasm and excitement, but music itself has always been the best medicine for me. An important lesson from last week was that I need to get more music into my life once again. Playing music integrates body, intellect, and emotion in a unique combination of skills that make it nearly impossible to think about anything else. My challenge will be to carry as much positive energy and emotion as I can into the days ahead.
Each year’s camp has a “theme” on which many of the songs and readings are based. This year’s theme (appropriately enough for me) was New Pathways. I often feel as if I’m blazing a trail through deep, dark woods, not sure when or where I’ll come into the light again.
Having good companions and safe harbors along the way make the road so much easier to travel.