Sharing gifts...

Last week at this time, we were finishing off Thanksgiving Day, and the next evening, in the house inside this window, I played Christmas carols and a few interspersed simple classical guitar pieces for guests as they spent a few minutes in what used to be the library.  There was a faux-fire crackling in the fireplace, a beautifully lighted tree in the bay window, and an air of coziness brought in by hooked rugs, pieced quilts, and plenty  of greenery and bows on the mantel.  The guests and the docents seemed to very much enjoy the addition of the live music to a tour that usually does not have it.

Sometimes we who have music as an integral part of our souls and beings, and play, or have played professionally for many a holiday program, can find ourselves hard-pressed to explain what it can mean to perform at this time of year.  Sometimes, it's just a straightforward performance of the "Messiah", sung by a choir who have practiced for months, have great hearts, sing to a half-filled room of stalwart supporters - and sometimes, it is a stunningly miraculous experience of hundreds of factors coming together in an indescribably beautiful success.  Sometimes, the professionals who have done hundreds of performances over a lifetime let themselves forget the magic of what they are being allowed to do, and sometimes the audiences have no clue that - for the musician - playing or singing and getting paid to do so comes only at the end of years of practice, and from deep inside a sensitive heart which had to fight many battles to make playing professionally work in life.

Almost always, though, at the end of the day, the musician is offering a gift from the soul, because that's where music comes from.  The "professional" part comes from the years of practicing the craft and developing technique, but never be fooled.  The part from the soul is a gift that money can't buy.
Please find a way to value it as such.  And to my fellow musicians, may you have at least one shiny moment of magic enter your holiday gigs this year!