Heats and Waves

Hello sweet world! We are in Leo season. We are vibing and we are HOT. The sun is in her power and everyone, or at least everyone in the northern hemisphere, knows it.

I hope you all are staying safe and cool and centered. There is a lot happening in the world with climate change, the January 6th hearings, and the newest variant of COVID. Not to mention everyday things like inflation, gas prices, and me just trying to have a nice summer! This is your official reminder to ground and find the things that make you feel safe and comfortable over the next few weeks as the pandemic and this whirlwind of a world keeps on spinning.

A big update for me that I haven’t shared yet on Reblogga’s Beck is that I am going to Germany this fall! Ich fahre nach Deutschland im Herbst! I have been mentally and physically planning this trip for over a year and the departure is fast approaching. I expect to be writing frequently while I’m there and updating the website more so stay tuned. As I’ve been preparing to go I have been thinking about my goals and what sort of shape I’d like my performing career to take. This is not a thought experiment that was encouraged of me as a young artist or student of opera. You took what you got and you were thankful that you got it because honestly, you’re not that good ← That sounds more like how we were encouraged to think of ourselves.

As I’ve shared before, I am not a one trick pony. I am a Johannes Factotum (click here for reference) and I refuse to be anything less than all of my pieces. And I’m taking these pieces to Germany to see how I can fit into that opera world. 

Planning an extended trip to a place I’ve never been to meet people I can hardly talk to has me a bit uneasy. The way that I’m trying to feel settled and excited about the potential is to remember that you can’t create change within the restrictions of certainty. As artists, as performers, as creative humans, we have to get comfortable with the unknowns and the weird in order to make something new. 

I’ll leave you with just one more thought I had recently. I was lucky enough to spend some time staring at the ocean and I hope at some point this summer you get the chance to do the same. I watched how the waves came in and out and rolled over top of each other. Usually, when I think of ebb and flow I think in the macro from low tide to high tide but as I watched the waves that day I realized that in actuality, both push and pull are always happening simultaneously. Sometimes the wave coming in is stronger and sometimes the undertow is stronger but that doesn’t mean one negates the other. It also is amazing to me that scientists can predict the future tides down to the meter, and based on the moons positioning, they can predict the tides for years to come, but what they can’t tell you is what the waves will bring in. So, when you are feeling a strong pull from one thing in your life, try to come back to center and find the other waves that balance it out. Please try to stay open, please try to stay clear, and please try to move with love first so that when the ocean drops a gift for you, you’re ready to pick it up.

<3 Reb

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