We Need Each Other

Photo credit - Rob Maciak

So, here's the thing...we need each other.  Probably more now than ever before and for those of us cut off from our regular jobs and our peer groups the relationships we built before the pandemic are more precious than ever.  Why?  Because we are adapting and it is going to require skills we don't have or have only dabbled in.  We are going to have to rely on the expertise of our colleagues to encourage and guide us through the process of change while we forge ahead by ourselves.  Will these skills help us and will we use more technology in the future?  Probably, but nothing will replace the need for each other.  A computer cannot sympathize or ask us if we need a break but it can be a tool that allows us to communicate with each other. 

I am grateful for the tools I have which will allow me to travel into the imaginations of young people during this interesting time in history.  I will still be using the arts, skills and curiosities I acquired before the pandemic to connect but I will miss the sense of wonder before a presentation begins, hugs, the conversations before and after the workshops and even the travel to and from the places I used to go. 

However, what I am missing the most right now is playing with my colleagues in the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra.  There is nothing that replaces that feeling and there is no technology that can replicate it.  I will cherish it deeply when we all meet again in the future.  I hope you are all well and adapting effortlessly.  For all of you out there missing performance and your artistic families -  this too shall pass...just not as quickly as we would like it to.