It is good to be back! Yes, after two months of turmoil my room is finally finished and I have been reunited with Arty, my trusty laptop, so here is the latest instalment of McEwan’s Musings. The room is everything that I hoped it would be and to those of you that have persevered with my mutterings and ramblings on Twitter, many thanks for bearing with me!!
My room is now absolutely amazing. It is like being in a cabin on a boat and is more than I could have hoped for. The décor is everything I wanted and perhaps the most exciting thing of all is that I now have a desk, at which Arty and I can spend many happy and creative hours. Sorting out the room has taken so long and so much effort that when it was just finished and assembled on Monday night I immediately felt ill - I always get like that when something is completed!
But so much has happened this week! The ABRSM exams came back with glowing reports for my two pupils and on Thursday I was invited to play for and talk with the local Brownies who are working for their entertainment badge. A quick recap of the last time I performed for anybody made me realise that it was two and a half years ago and I felt nervous accordingly. But despite the nerves the appreciation of being asked was great and the anticipation adjusted accordingly.
There’s a lot of anticipation in the air at the moment. I love Advent perhaps more than Christmas. The lead up, excitement and general warmth of people’s attitudes is so encouraging and heartening. The smiles become more frequent and the promise of good things in store sees us through the darkest period of the year - although I have to here admit that winter is the season I love the most and despite the night having deepened by 4 in the afternoon and the temperatures dropping accordingly there is very little that can dampen my spirit of bubbly excitement.
Waiting is something that becomes easier with age, though, and there can be no denying that. Many of my younger pupils seem fit to burst with the anticipation of Advent leading up to the goal that is ultimately Christmas. Many people grumble at the way in which Christmas appears in shops before they suppose it is time to, and I - yes, even me! - feel uncomfortable at how it seems to be pushing further and further forward in the year. Soon we might really be having the commercial Christmas all year round - as well as the spiritual one we are encouraged to carry in our hearts (as Charles Dickens’ wrote about in his immortal story, “A Christmas Carol”). I suppose it is a bad thing, but it also carries with it a sense of excitement and wonder that is not lacking but frequently overlooked in today’s world.
I’m like a kid at Christmas - not the goat kind, the child kind! - our Christmases are truly amazing and without a doubt one of the highlights of any year. My brilliant new room is already filling up with wrapped up parcels ready for distributing by post or hand, and already I am eager for the Christmas tree to make its appearance the weekend before Christmas. I can’t help but smile with giddiness at it all! Perhaps it is all about the promise; perhaps that is what makes Advent as delightful as Christmas. As an adult we seem to rush about here, there and everywhere, always in a rush, but here is something that cannot be rushed, something that we have to wait for and it is that which fans the spark of anticipation and allows we busy grown-ups a chance to recapture what it was like to be an excited child.
And this blog is dedicated to the lady who served us today in Tesco. Excitement can rub off on people and so can a pleasant smile, I hope our excitement at Christmas shopping and our warm smiles brightened up her day and encouraged her to brighten up other peoples.
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