“I used to play the violin” is a refrain I hear often. It is usually spoken to me as I greet concert-goers after a performance, and is frequently followed by two additional thoughts - one that looks regretfully to the past (“I wish I had kept at it”) and one that looks hopefully into the future (“I'd love to pick it up again”). 

I recently submitted a proposal to teach a group violin class for returning players at a local adult school. In my experience, people who take up the violin at a later age are exceptional students: they are focused and determined and have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish. They willingly establish a regular practice routine and work hard to achieve their goals. 

My mother was one such person. After a long hiatus, she began taking private violin lessons again in her mid-forties. An old man would come to our home and teach her in our living room. In the 1930s, when the Great Depression hit rural Utah, my mother’s family lost everything and her parents could not afford to pay for lessons. Her love for the violin and for classical music never wavered though, and many years later after raising five children of her own and while working full-time as a med tech in Oakland, she finally decided to treat herself to some private violin lessons and joined a local community orchestra. Her decision to start playing the violin again directly influenced my own desire to learn the violin.

I am grateful for the opportunity I have to teach returning violin players because they remind me that it is never too late to be creative and to do what brings joy and light into one's life.

What are some things that brighten your days?