Image Text: “‘I am not for everyone’ is at least as much a promise to myself as it is a declaration to the world.” Image Description: Middle-aged white woman climbing carpeted stairs wearing a sweatshirt reading: “WEIRD IS RAD”.
A musical video collaboration from around the world and an important affirmation in these trying times.… Read More Happy and Well
I have very good days and very hard days. Just like you. On the very hard days, I try a number of things to get back in tune. Different things work on different days. Social media never works. Dogs are a pretty reliable win. Poetry has never let me down. Naomi Shihab Nye wrote this… Read More Buttonhole
There are some professional opportunities that only present themselves every once in a blue moon. I find myself in the midst of one right now as we wrap up what has been a pretty terrible year overall. Please don’t misunderstand. Personally, all is well. My family is delightful. My work is diverse and fulfilling. I… Read More Fun Home at UI Theatre
I recently had the honor of being interviewed by writer Dannye Chase for her delightful new project The Bright Side Blog. Dannye is as gifted an interviewer as she is a writer and we had a lot of fun discussing creativity and parenting along with many other things we have in common. Stop on over… Read More Interview with Dannye Chase
Song of a Man Who Has Come Through by D.H. Lawrence Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time. If only I let it bear me, carry me, if only it carry me! If only I am sensitive, subtle, oh, delicate, a… Read More Hesperides
My students, both the ones I gave birth to and the ones who come to me for a musical education, are used to me using sports analogies to illustrate ideas about technique and practice. We all have a good laugh about this instructional tendency of mine because I am the last person you would find doing… Read More Wheelhouse, Population 1
Oh, how I love lists! In actual fact, lists are how I maintain sanity. I don’t throw that idea around lightly and I know that I’m in good company. At least 40 million Americans and I have a problem with anxiety. There are just so many things so utterly out of our individual control. So.… Read More Lists
Atticus had his Irish step dance debut a few weeks ago for a hooley put on by the Champagne Academy of Irish Dance. We were in the ceili band playing for the dance and I was really proud to be joined by a few of my students who really held their own playing for the… Read More Advance and Retire
Shy. Bashful. Awkward. Introverted. I’ve been puzzling over these designations lately, particularly in regard to myself and to my oldest child. I have a long background in social services so I’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test many times and have always ended up with the INFP label. Whenever the test has been described to me, the… Read More Introvert
Tara McGovern 