Well, here I am … about five hours away from playing “Latin Nights” in a cello concert performed by the students of Lieven Baert.  Both kids and adults will grace the stage tonight.  May we all be cheered on.

I’m nervous.  I told people yesterday that I was more excited than nervous but now it’s the opposite.  Oh well.  I’ll just celebrate my shaking.  It’s a part of me, as deserving of love as my kindness.

I said to a friend yesterday that I promise to play with passion tonight.  I’ll try to make a nice sound, hit the right notes … but that’s secondary.

It would be a huge triumph if I smile while the cello soars through “Latin Nights”.  The joy of playing is the thing.  Reaching people within our shared love of music is a second cool thing.  Being meekly accurate with the notes doesn’t appeal.  My mistakes tonight will be with gusto!  An exclamation mark or five.

What if I smile while I’m bowing a wrong note, or while there’s a screech rather than a rich tone?  That would be awesome (not that I’ll go seeking such mistakes).

There’s a wide open sky available to me tonight … so far beyond “playing well”.

I want to go there