So how’m I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want?
Last time, people: I was not at porn camp. I was at music camp. However, in attempting to describe music camp to “civilians” (ie, people who have never been to music camp), I find myself relying on the phrase “summer camp for adults.” Or “adult summer camp.”
Which invariably leads to questions about whether this is a nudist camp, or an “adult-themed” camp.
Ahem. That would be no, people.
For all you prurient voyeurs, hoping for a glimpse behind the scenes at porn camp, I’m terribly sorry, but although there were several songs with serious double entendres played over the course of the week, California Coast Music Camp is most definitely PG rated and family-friendly.
Missing camp: the lost year
Last year, in a misguided attempt to bring in more wedding business by showing my work at a wedding fair, I missed both Jazz Camp West and CCMC.
What a mistake.
I discovered that missing music camp is not just a matter of missing a special week (or weeks) during the summer. In fact, music camp re-acquaints me with my passion, my Bliss. It helps get me back on track, and the energy boost I get during that brief interlude actually charges up my engines and propels me forward for many months.
The year I missed camp I felt the lack much more strongly than I’d expected.
So this year, despite my enormous mountain of debt, and despite the practically inhuman challenge of trying to get away during the busiest time of year for my business, I moved heaven and earth to get to camp. Both camps, in fact.
Scholarships helped make my attendance possible (huge thank yous to everyone who donates to the scholarship funds! You are my heroes!) And in fact, I was offered an official staff position at CCMC, which reduced my tuition down an additional $200 from my $450 scholarship; instead of full tuition of $900, I only had to pay $250.
Out of the frying pan…
That extra $200 came at a price, however. As the Signs and Snacks person, my job was to make, post and take down all signs at the appropriate times, and to prepare, put out and clean up the late night snacks every evening.
Even with a good chunk of the signs re-usable from the previous week’s camp, the signs job is a pretty big one, especially during the first half of the week. And the snack job took a hefty amount of time every day as well, plus kept me up later than I would preferred on clean-up duty.
With both jobs, and three daily classes, my schedule was pretty packed, and sleep a bit scarce.
In other words, my vacation wasn’t as much of a vacation as I would have liked.
Don’t get me wrong: camp was wonderful, my classes were fantastic, and I loved being part of the team that helped camp run smoothly. And as a calligrapher, making the signs was great fun (as was the validation I got from all the ooh’s and ah’s they received).
But the second or third day I realized that it probably makes sense for me to construct my vacation time to be as much of a break from my daily existence as possible. And since I’m almost always dealing with an overly packed schedule, creating a vacation situation with a schedule that is not overly packed is much to be desired.
So I learned something. If I were to do it all over again, perhaps I’d just take the scholarship and not do the job.
On the other hand, $200 represents a lot of money to me right now, and I can use every penny I get. So until I get my finances in order (god-willing, by Valentine’s Day 2013!), I simply may not get the completely relaxing vacation I could really use.
Ah, well.
Falling in love!
The biggest surprise this past week was that I fell madly, passionately in love!
Every year I’ve gone to music camp kinda hoping maybe I’d meet some great guy, the perfect partner in music and life.
It never happens. This year was no exception.
But I did fall in love… with the ukulele!
Here’s the funny thing: I’ve been to music camp with ukulele classes for years and I’ve never felt in the least compelled to learn the instrument. But for some reason, this year the stars were aligned. Cupid’s arrow must have struck me when I was looking at a uke, because suddenly the ukulele became the object of my obsession.
I was so smitten, I earmarked the cash from my CD sales to my “Uke Fund,” and because I couldn’t wait to have one of my own, I stopped at a music store on my drive home and bought a Kala Travel Uke.
Wanna see it? (‘Course you do! How could you not?) Watch the video below for a grainy clip of me playing a Dave Gordon song.
And now we are home
Here’s the deal. In many ways, music camp is living the life I really, really want. I’m doing (at least one of) my creative things every day, most of the day. (Even when I’m working a job like Signs and Snacks.)
So last week I was doing pretty great in my quest to live the life I really, really want.
Now that I’m home? Well, it’s not nearly as easy. I’m pretty much back on the hamster wheel, with client deadlines keeping me hopping.
But I’m still managing to play my uke!
But that’s really for the next Weekly Review. For now, bedtime.
‘Night all.
