M01.04 - A Perfect Storm of Passion

My apologies. Since I started blogging so fiercely last January, I have not missed a day that I intended to write. But even for me, I overstretched by trying to launch this website, while simultaneously overseeing our annual school residential for 110 students, teachers and visitors from overseas. Now I am sitting on the Narita Express, on my way home to Australia, having finished a teary appreciation session in Gotemba this morning as I officially closed our residential for another year. Cathy Madden from Seattle, and Mio Morales from Corvallis, Oregon, came to teach this year. Last night was amazing. It was our “No talent” show but, well… Our musical students formed an Alexander rag time band with jazz piano (Harumi), full drum set (carried there for activities with Mio by the drum boys: Yusuke, Yuji, Junichiro and Shigeru), Sax (Aiko), Trombone (Yoshiyuki), African drums (Mio), French horn (Basil), Oboe (Risa), Xylophone (Ken) Tuba (Yoshihide) and Makiko’s human-sized Bass. They started playing after the show at 11pm, and continued on to 2am. Wow – what a celebration. The floor was full of continuous wild dancing and joyful celebration. This is an amazing group of people and I am completely blown away by the community BodyChance has become in Japan. It is infectious. Several people decided last night that they want to join the ProCourse – they don’t know how yet, but they want to be part of what is happening here. Many of my critics – oh yes, even within BodyChance I have my critics – who thought I was selling out the technique for money, finally got it: there is nothing but good about this many people exploring Alexander's Discoveries together. They came up to me and thanked me: like all of us there last night, they were awestruck by the power of what we are creating in the world. We are talking about graduates of some of Japan’s finest Universities: the equivalent of the Harvard/Princeton/Yale.  We are talking professional musicians in positions of key influence within the Japanese classic music world. We are talking housewives and ballerinas, opera singers and salary workers, actors and the unemployed – an extraordinary rage of talented, creative and dedicated people. This is not some passing fad – the foundations a sweeping change are being laid down person by passionate person… It was the first residential that some of the 19 new students in Basil’s Music ProCourse experienced the whole community: our schools in Tokyo and Osaka. Some of you should put this on your calendar and come. First week of May, 2014: you’ve never seen anything like this in the Alexander Community before. Brett, who attended from LA at my invitation, has gone back inspired to start building a community like this in the United States. It will take years of course, but I am convinced it is my life mission to continue this path in English speaking countries… What is your life purpose? This work, of course. Passion, purpose and a willingness to move from the known to the unknown sits at the core of your creation. As I experience the fog of creating something in LA, I am reminded of similar fogs I have come through in the creation of BodyChance. If there’s no fog, there’s no unknown. Are you in a fog about your career? This is exactly right. This is the only way it can be. Before there is clarity, there is confusion: full of conflicting paths, choices and crises. It’s natural. When you start feeling that – you know you are on your way… I have read the inspiring posts of Annie, John-Paul and Angela to my last blog a few days ago and I feel “Oh, it is starting now. This is my new English speaking community.” Our goal is success, however you want to define it. Tough times ahead, but glorious times too. A life well worth living. Never give up.