How music broke me and mindfulness put me back together
I just started the most important work of my life.
Here’s why.
As a little girl I was free. I loved to sing, I ran around barefoot in tie-dye leggings. I would say I got “the God feeling” whenever I felt the magic of music. I wrote books and swam for hours on end. My wild curls danced as I played through life.
Very simply, I was myself, with abandon.
For whatever reason, I was dealt a unique deck of cards in my life, like we all are.
I was born into a highly competitive classically trained musical family.
I have a family member that has bipolar disorder and is on the autism spectrum.
I had a near death car accident when I was 16 years old.
I began my classical training and competitions at the piano at age five. It was there where my identity began to shift. Perfectionism seeped into my mind and heart. My output became the measuring stick for my self-worth. I was vicious to myself and was rewarded for it.
Words from damaging teachers echoed in my...
