And live music played a part as it often does, lately, in my life ... Today was a full-circle day. Today was a gift.
I woke up happy because I knew it was going to be a fun day at work. More on that in a minute. But it was also Weigh Day and I had a good feeling about it this morning. I almost always know--I know what kind of week I've had (good choices or bad; moved my butt or sat on it). I had a good week and saw a good result on the scale. It's a guaranteed mood lifter when that happens.
Then it was on to the full-circle ... Back on Valentine's Day I was at a Gold Award Committee meeting listening to girls present their project proposals to be eligible for Girl Scouting's highest award, the Gold Award. (I refuse to say that it's like a BSA Eagle Award because it's not reallly, except in the fact that they are both the highest award of their respective organizations.) At that meeting we approved a young lady's project to improve awareness of local hunger issues and help our food pantry. She designed a contest for county middle schools to hold food drives and the school that brought in the highest average number of pounds per student would win a concert from a local band. She has other components to her project like working at the pantry and giving cooking classes to the clients on how to make the most satisfying and nutritious meals from the foods commonly found in the pantry (so when you're making donations to your local food pantries, keep this in mind: nutrition and variety are important).
As luck or coincidence would have it, our middle school, under the leadership of the Student Council, decided to participate and won. So we had two concerts today--the first before lunch for our younger population, PreK through 4th grade, and the second after lunch for fifth through eighth. But I got to sneak into both and was introduced to the young siblings of Sweeter Than Honey, amazingly talented, high energy musicians who had nearly the whole student body on its feet during the two shows. They played covers and original songs and were tight, producing quite a big sound for only three people. Good harmony and a well-paced set list engaged everyone in the room from the 3-year-olds to those of us who are considerably older. Ruth and her brothers talked to the kids about taking music lessons and shared that you can do sports and make music; their "concert banter" was really professional. I can't wait to hear them again someday.
The second show was introduced by the Girl Scout whose project this was. She spoke to the older kids about hunger issues in our community and was both informative and eloquent. I wasn't surprised. I remembered her poise and maturity from several months ago. Sweeter Than Honey played again and there was some pretty enthusiastic dancing taking place. And some of it was good! Okay, not exactly good but they were very cute. And the younger they were, the less self-conscious they were.
The price you pay for having fun all day is working late but even then it was fun, probably because our spirits were so lifted by the music. (I will pay for all this fun next week when we're sprinting towards commencement and packing 15 hours of work into 10-hour days.)
I drove from the office to this month's Gold Award Committee meeting. (See that? It's the full circle.) We heard about 10 proposals tonight. Another girl will be serving the food pantry with her project to help clients' children learn to make nutritious food choices. Each of the girls was passionate and prepared to do her best on behalf of her cause. By the second to last girl, I was getting a little teary. It's hard to explain but these girls walk into the room looking slightly or--some of them--a lot more nervous and they walk out with approved plans, good advice from us "sage veterans" and with determination and drive. You just know they're going to accomplish so much and you were able to witness the birth of some meaningful leadership in and service to their communities that will provide them with experiences which could enrich and empower them for bright futures.
It's a long day when you're at work by 7:30 and arrive home around 11:00 but when your day is so fulfilling that you can't sleep and find yourself writing about these blessings, it's a really, really good day. I had a really good day today.
~~~
Sweeter Than Honey covers Hey, Soul Sister here.
No comments:
Post a Comment