It is rare for me to find a legitimate piano gig. It is even more rare for the hirer to return my phone call and/or e-mail. And it is practically an occasion to break out champagne and dance a jig when all the details work out and I am officially “booked.” So I was totally psyched when I booked an accompaniment gig at the  Broadway Comedy Club . Not the Vegan Poetry Reading House, not the accompanist for a Catholic school’s children's Christmas program, but the Broadway Comedy Club - in the heart of New York City and a legitimate landmark where many famous musicians have performed. The gig was to provide accompaniment (which isn’t my best skill) of Broadway songs (which I don’t know a lot of) for professional vocalists (who can be a bit…diva, or divo). We had one short rehearsal the day before the performance and I arrived at the rehearsal about 30 minutes early because I still had no concept of how mass transit runs in this city. I made it a rule of thumb to leave an hour before I...

It’s easy to see the magic in a beautiful day - the color of the blue sky with brush strokes of white wispy clouds, the way the sun’s light enhances every color from the lush green grass to the color of the flowers swaying in the breeze. And in the setting of a beautiful park with a vast, tree-filled landscape and crystal pond in the center, I could very well call this my magic moment 2. But something in the middle of the park tugged at my heart and will stay with me for a long time. A little boy, no older than 3, sat on a child-size rock next to the pond. He was alone. His mother and brother were at the playground a few yards away. His body was unusually relaxed for a 3 year old and his gaze was intently fixed on a group of ducks in the middle of the pond. The ducks swam slowly and smoothly from one end of the pond to the other and the little boys’ head followed in correlating motion. His hands were folded neatly in his lap and occasionally, he raised a hand to point at a duck as...

I am a happy person. I have a wonderful life - an amazing husband, a family who loves and supports me, I am not destitute, and I often have opportunities to do what I love most - play, write, and perform music. Despite all these blessings, I struggle with bouts of sadness, fear of failure, monotonous days, and panic as I feel my life is passing me by. Being a struggling musician, I face rejection and failure nearly every day. If I am to be honest, I have had some very dark moments of hopelessness. Moments when the tears have drenched my pillow and my eyes have nearly swollen shut. Moments when I wondered, what would it be like to crash into that tree? Moments I did not have the will to go outside. But how dare I? With the millions affected in Haiti, the health issues some families have to deal with, and the struggle of losing a loved one, what an ungrateful person I must be to break down because the mechanic ripped me off and I locked myself out of my house. Again. This is what I sho...