EXPECTATION
For Lauretta Violin Studio, the mantra for the month of October is EXPECTATION. Recently, I read snippets of Rezvan Ameli's 25 Lessons in Mindfulness: Now Time for Healthy Living , and I came across an impactful message regarding expectations. We typically grow frustrated, irritated, or disappointed when people or situations do not meet our expectations. As musicians and teachers, we may often experience unmet expectations, such as... (1) Expecting a coworker to respond to an urgent email in one day, but he responds three days later. (2) Expecting a student to arrive to her lesson on time and prepared, but she frequently arrives late and unprepared. (3) Arriving to a rehearsal prepared with the repertoire, but our colleagues arrive less polished. (4) Expecting a performance to run smoothly, but certain sections of the repertoire don't go as planned. Phew! No wonder many musicians experience burn out. Unmet expectations are exhausting....