That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. I was given an iTunes gift card for Christmas (thank you, père Noel!) and wondered what, in my vast shopping cart, I’d choose to buy. I spend a fair amount of time in my car, traveling either to Connecticut for a site visit to a client or to Provincetown for my own times of feeding my soul, and so the tunes I put on my iPod are carefully chosen.
I like to howl along as I drive, you see.
But this time I hesitated. I looked in my journal where I’d written a few musicians’ names with question marks beside them. I remembered the NPR story about another artist I’d heard recently. And so, after thinking abou adding these new voices to my world, I listened to the scraps iTunes allows, and I spent my gift card.
Last night I drove down to Provincetown and listened to all my New Music. And the experience proved to be both challenging and exhilarating: not knowing what was next on the playlist. Okay, so for most people that is probably not a big deal; but there’s more than a little obsessive-compulsive disorder in me, and it was a stretch.
And maybe that’s the best word to use for that sort of thing: stretch. I’m seeing a physical therapist for headaches, and he is working with me to stretch my neck, to improve my range of motion. Very uncomfortable indeed, but my muscles — like my musical repertoire — could do with a little stretching.
What would be a stretch for you today? Can you challenge yourself in one small thing, step outside of your comfort zone, try something new or different? The stretch isn’t comfortable, but most of the good things in life aren’t.
So that’s my challenge to you this week: find a place where you can stretch your boundaries, your assumptions, your comfort zone. And tell me how it goes!
– Jeannette Cézanne
http://www.JeannetteCezanne.com
Posted by: Something completely different, Opening the heart, Learning something new, Difficulty — jcezanne
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