Hello musicians and creative artists the world over. Welcome to another exciting and beautiful Monday Music and Me. My weekly music diary. In the words of Wendy  Williams “howyoudoing? :-). Well I am here exhaustedfrom singing all through the early hours of this morning 12midnight till 3:00 am,with a two hour  sleep inbetween and resume again 8:00am. I love what I do :-).

Got home,  starving and sleepy,I found some bread to eat,Thank God for bread,I am too tired to make anything from the kitchen.Now, I should get a 3 hour straight uninterrupted nap. I am not picking the boys from school until 5pm,so I am safe. Laying on the couch of course with the remote control (did I say I wanted to catch a 3 hour nap).I hope I do at this rate.

Flipping through the channels,something caught my attention and I quickly flipped back. Music of the heart -A movie based on true story. By now my sleepy eyes are wide open,especialy when I saw what Meryl Streep looked like in 1999. She played Roberta a violin teacher in a surburb on east harlem. By now you’ve realised that the title of the post today is from the title of the movie.

At this point,the movie is almost ending but the few minutes I got to see,stirred some thoughts in my heart and I  want to share it with you all. This movie talks about the struggle of a woman who used her musical gift to change the lives of ordinary people in her neighbourhood. Despite the challenges her environment and the school system posed to her,Roberta proved to the people that the art of music can instill discipline in the students and help to achieve excellence in life.

There are two main points that stood out for me in this movie, though I didnt see the movie from the beginning,These two points  will be the focal point of my post today.

*PASSION : Passion is a very strong feeling about something or someone,it is an intense emotion,compelling enthusiasm,a desire for something. Roberta had a beautiful passion for her gift as a violinist and  teacher,she had a compelling enthusiasm to see her music change her students. Passion is the fuel that keeps purpose in motion. You can’t make any impact without passion running through your adrenaline,in any area of creative art you might have chosen. Passion is what convinced your audience about who you are and what you do.

Passion is what keeps you awake when others are sleeping,its like fire burning through,putting you on the edge,not allowing you to rest on your oars. Passion is what gives you the desire to surpass your last performance. Passion for the art,passion of the artist,passion for the audience. I have discovered that this is one thing that won’t  let me rest.

*PERSEVERANCE: Perseverance  means steadfastness in doing, despite  difficulty or delay in achieving success. Now how about that,my middle name should be Ms Perseverance,just like Roberta had so much difficulties in dealing with  systems that were up against her and the children she was teaching . At different point she almost gave up, I guess that’s typical of many of us artists,with so many twists and turns,you find yourself wanting to quit. I wanted to quit on many occassions because it seems the more I tried to attain “success” the farther away it got .Let me tell you,it can be frustrating even as christian musician,there had been days when even the WORD didn’t make sense to me.  Note, its says “steadfastness in doing…..

In otherwords, even in the face of frustration,fear,doubts anxiety and wanting to quit,you just have to keep pushing ,keep writing the songs,keep rehearshing the music,just keep doing it with strong passion of a winner,Roberta pushed through in the face of odds at the end of the day,the result and the impact in the lives of the people was beyond words. The movie struck a chord in my heart in the minutes I watched,because I can relate to the ordeals of Roberta the violinist,the teacher who desired to better the lives of her students and the community with her gift. She faced rejection,she was laughed at,they told her her dreams were too good to be true,but she was too passionate about her dream and the impact,that she persevered all through, until the dream became a reality beyond her expectations.

There are many of us out there like Ms Roberta,Don’t ever let anybody tell you that your music does not make sense,don’t ever let any system choke the life out of your dreams.

With passion and much perseverance your music will one day resonate to the ends of the world because your experience,will make your music- The music of the heart.

Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable-Leonard Bernstein.

FYI- I didn’t get to have the 3 hour sleep at all after all 😦