I know the last thing you want to hear about is the pandemic. But I've learned a lot more than the value of getting vaccinated, washing my hands, masking up, and meeting others sparingly during those two-plus years that we were in pandemic mode, although I am grateful for those lessons. Sure, I lost a lot of business, but as the saying goes, money ain't everything, especially when considering those who lost their lives to covid. I mentioned in previous posts the pleasures of reading, writing, listening, and seeing more intently (and intensely) during those "lost years," but I believe I have gained so much by slowing down my commercial treadmill from March 2020 to June 2022. Here is how.
I found unprecedented time to read many of the books on my bucket list, but I still have many more to read. Some recent worthwhile reads have been Joseph Henrich's The WEIRDEST People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous, Geert Hofstede's Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations, Walter Isaacson's Leonardo da Vinci, and Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation.
I have subscribed to YouTube channels that never cease to put a smile on my face, including those of pianists Rossano Sportiello, Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi. Or I could just listen a thousand times to pianist Michel Camilo play From Within, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane play The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond play Emily, pianist-singer Eliane Elias play Samba Triste, or pianist Ahmad Jamal play Poinciana. Those five videos alone could take and make an entire day for me.
All of these activities have inspired and continue to shape me, proof that we never stop learning.
