Playing the piano is helping me put some puzzle pieces in the right place. I’ve always had the ability to reproduce the pitch of a song, but it wasn’t until I began playing the piano that I now seem able to identify the key by name. It may seem silly or small, but that’s a game-changer for me. It makes me feel that I can put everything together now; as though I’ve come full circle.

In a few days, I’ll hit my one-month mark on the piano. When I bought it and began playing, I made sure to keep an open mind about how I learn best; not following any particular method, but tailoring practices to my interests, speed, challenges, and desires. One learning strategy that always works best for me is a top-down approach. With the piano, there’s great benefit in playing music from sheets (of which I’m capable), but I could tell something had been missing.

Happy Hanukkah and/or Christmas to those who celebrate! Even though our house is (reluctantly) multi-religious, we forgot just about every tradition we were ever taught for this time of the year. On Hanukkah Eve, Anja said “where are the tea lights?”, but we had no luck finding them to produce a makeshift chanukiah. Probably for the best. I don’t mind that we didn’t put up a Christmas tree, but I did find myself missing our outrageous ornaments.