(Text, more or less): It has been about ten years since I gave a recital. When I gave recitals in college and grad school, I: Practiced three to four hours a day Had my own dedicated practice room, with no internet connection Practiced first thing in the morning before class. Practiced after class until ensemble…
Read MoreAll articles filed in life lessons
What’s YOUR Problem?
Life is unpredictable, but over the past several years I’ve learned there’s one thing I can count on with absolute certainty: somewhere between one week and two days before university graduation, I will lose my voice. It happens virtually every semester, just before I join the platform party at honors convocation as the official singer…
Read MoreStripped of Humanity
Reflections on the Stations of the Cross Jesus is Stripped Of His Clothes The first summer I worked with my dad on the farm, we were also preparing for my sister’s wedding. One morning my mother came out of her room and grabbed me by the arms with a vaguely wild look in her…
Read MoreBackup
At the end of November 2011 I learned two terms I’d never heard before: “irritable uterus” and “wimpy white boy.” Irritable uterus leads to 37-week C section. 37-week C section leads to “wimpy white boy” spending ten days in the special care nursery two hours away from home. Ten days in the special care nursery…
Read MoreRepost: Faith, Love, and Fear
Yesterday afternoon I was talking to a friend about various topics in faith (because, yanno, we’re Catholic nerds that way), and the topic of fear and its power as a motivator of faith came up. I wanted to write on that topic today, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I…
Read MoreFading Into Memory
Bedtime on a Tuesday evening is a zoo. Christian is in the basement teaching piano. Julianna is listening to a Christmas sing-along CD (yes, still). Nicholas is endeavoring to stay in the tub until he develops hypothermia. In the other bathroom, Alex sounds like he’s making a movie in the shower, complete with sound effects,…
Read MoreBalance Redefined
Raise your hand if you fret about keeping your life “balanced.” Come on, admit it. That’s one of those things women, in particular, obsess about. We’ve grown up to a soundtrack of “you can do anything you want,” but most of us have taken the word anything to mean everything. And this leads us to…
Read MoreThe Balance Between Authenticity and TMI
I’ve spent my writing time the last several days researching literary agents. When you Google someone’s name, you get a lot of clutter, but if you take the time, you can often get a good sense of who they are by the things they say online. For an author hoping to find someone to represent…
Read MoreMarriage Has Made Me Free
The other day, Christian looked up from Discover magazine and chuckled. “Guess what?” he said. “73% of Discover readers think humans are meant to be polyamorous.” I confess: I rolled my eyes. Monogamy can be a challenge, I’ll grant you, but the alternative causes such pain and dysfunction, so much emotional scarring for the adults…
Read MoreIt Is What It Is
When I was a kid, I thought it would be great to be a grownup, because grownups got to do whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it. Now don’t laugh, I know you all thought it too. We all know better now. As adults, we get to direct the big picture…
Read More
Kathleen M. Basi 