Occam's Razor

I heard the most fascinating story on "This American Life" this afternoon. It was based on Occam's Razor which, boiled down to its essence, asserts that: Given a choice between two explanations, the simplest explanation is probably the right explanation.

The story was about a family who spent at least twenty years asserting that their first born son, was white, when in actuality, he was biracial. It was one of those classic NPR stories that is so compelling, I take the long way home and inevitably have to sit in the car to listen to the end. I was absolutely unable to comprehend so many different pieces of the story. How could this family live with such a big elephant in the room and never address it? Why, once the story got out, no one was angry, bitter, or betrayed? In fact, once the truth was out, the family felt relief. The son felt complete, both fathers felt equally a father to their son, the sisters could finally relax, and the mother was free. WTF???!!!

At so many different points throughout this family's life, when faced with an opportunity to face this unspoken truth, each family member, chose to go with the easier and simpler option. They did it because it was easier than facing the possibility of losing their center, their world, the idea of their perfect circle of love. But, it still didn't seem plausible to me. This kind of blindness is just not possible.

Then I thought about where I am in my personal journey. I've always seen myself as a creative person. I play an instrument, sew, knit, and pretty much enjoy any type of crafty venture. It's that second to last word that is my Occam's Razor solution. Given the choice between thinking of myself as crafty versus an artist, the simpler is explanation. I can answer yes to crafting, but an artist, no friggin' way. Artists create things. Artists have vision. Artists can see what is unseen and then express it through a given medium.

But, oh God, do I want to be an artist. Just typing these words made my stomach flip flop. I want to be an artist. And it seems to me, that to make that happen, I have to abandon the idea of my perfect circle of self. And I realize that, like the family, it's the insistence of keeping the idea of my perfect circle of self, what's holding me back from being in the center of my freer, truer (not perfect) circle.

I have been encouraged by a mentor to start an Artists' Way circle. My first instinct was excitement, then came that naysayer voice who says I am no artist and no one will join and now is not the time, and besides, a lot of the readers on Amazon said it's corny and they're probably right.

So I have to ask myself: Given a choice between two explanations, is the simpler explanation the easier one or the safe one?

IC Band Reunion Weekend

I just got home from a great weekend at my alma mater, Ithaca College. It the first IC Band Reunion Weekend. 187 alumni strong came (51 clarinets!). I was really looking forward to getting my clarinet out again. My mouth was shot by the end of rehersal on Friday, but it was a blast. I shared my stand with classmate, Sarah Winston. She's hysterical. She's teaching at a private girls school in the DC area. The girls are lucky to have her. She's a great teacher and has an obvious passion for the work.

I got to play for every conductor I had during my time at Ithaca and even had a chance to catch up with my clarinet professor, Dr. Michael Galvan. The best part of the weekend was getting to spend time with my college roommate, Laura. When we met 20 years ago, it was like meeting my sister. We hit it off from the word go. I've never had a friend like her who gets me so well and is so accepting of me. I could burn down the town and she would have no judgement against me. I wish we lived closer so I could spend more time with her and her girls. But the distance make the time we do spend together so much sweeter. I guess that's the way it is sometimes.

40 was indeed Fabulous!

Celebrated my 40th birthday in a major way. The festivities started the Sunday before with Sangria, henna tatoos, and U2 at Gillette Stadium. It was the Girls' Night Out that I've always wanted, but never had as an adult. It seemed to be so much easier to pull that off when I was younger. But boy did we make up for lost time.  My actual birthday was wonderful as well. I got great gifts from the hubby and son. The husband brought home a giant sheet cake...yellow with chocolate frosting. YUM!! It donned on me later that this enormous cake would have been a great excuse to invite people over, but we 3 used it as an excuse to eat bigger pieces of cake. Hmmm...I may need to take a look at that some day. The bday celebration finale was dinner with my parents and good friend Andy at Ruths' Chris Steak House. Andy gave my the most beautiful vase. My parents gave me a fantastic knitting book that I started knitting out of today. Good times!

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