Contentment

I have a new DVD player, and I'm watching Fellowship of the Rings. I have a glass of sweet wine I'm sipping on. The dryer is humming, and my apartment is toasty warm.

In less than a week I'll be on a cruise ship down to Cozumel and Belize. This coming week, and the week after I get back will be decidedly insane, but for that week, I'll have nothing to do but eat, sleep, and relax.

I might have even decided on some reading material. Father Justin spoke this morning about a publication from Rome called Compendium Of The Social Doctrine Of The Church that sounds very much like something I want to read. Not very relaxing reading, I suppose. But I feel called.

I had a very good dinner today, and on the way home, I was able to share it with someone who needed it more than me. To be honest, once the light turned green, and I pulled around the corner and out of sight of the woman in her wheel chair, I began to sob almost uncontrollably. I have so much, and I do so little for people who don't. This needs to change. Even if it's just in the little things.

But today I did help a little, I hope. And the concert I had went really well. I had some solos, and I did NOT screw them up. In fact, I got some compliments that mean a lot to me, from musicians I have a LOT of respect for.

The bits I played weren't really all that hard, and the church we had the concert in did some very nice things for my sound, but I've been working hard to gain the confidence to play a solo with more than just the right notes in the right places. I want to play musically, with good tone, but also like myself, to make the solo mine some how. I think it must be like trying to find your voice as an author. You can only do it by... well... doing it. So I played around with it a bit. It's easier, I guess, when it's a song you know well, and for me it helps that it's a song that has words. I just play it like I'd sing it to myself.

Apparently jazz band is paying off. :-) Not to mention listening to some CDs a friend lent me over and over and over again, like he insisted I should. I'm learning, I'm growing, and I'm playing sooooo much. I'm really happy with how today went. I hope I don't slide too far back over the next month, when I won't be playing quite as much. I wonder if I can take my trumpet on the cruise... :-P

So, DVD player, wine, a full stomach, satisfaction with my music, and the sense of having helped someone. It's been a good day. I am grateful and content.