Busy, happy, or both?

Wow. Has it really been two weeks since my last post?
I guess I just lost track of time. Because I was so busy.
And, as we all know, busyness equals happiness.
At least that's what a recent psychological University of Chicago study claims is true.People are actually more happy when they have some task to do, even if it's a somewhat meaningless task, according to the study, which you can read about here.
I wasn't exactly thinking of my future happiness when I signed on to run a two-day music event in which 770 students would perform for a critique. It was just a lucky combination of extreme need on the part of the music teacher group I'm in and extreme guilt on my part. They were in desperate need of someone to run this festival. I hadn't volunteered to do anything of substance in quite a while. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.
That was back in early March. In the intervening months, I noticed the effect I was having on my fellow teachers. I would mention the festival and some would wince. Or pat me sympathetically on the shoulder. Some were overly solicitous of my feelings, carefully approaching as one would a suspicious device at the roadside that could yet explode. I began to hear about how this festival had "eaten people up alive." Ha ha!
The event was last weekend. Somehow, I managed to come out on the other side.
No doubt about it, it was a lot of work. A whole lot of work. I keyed in entries, did books, made the schedule and answered incessant email questions. I barely saw my family for a couple of weekends. But it was completely doable--mainly because people before me had set things up so one person doesn't do it all. I had way more experienced people taking care of the judges, the food and the printing issues that I certainly couldn't have done on my own.
It went smoothly, I am told. We had a couple of dramas here and there. But none of the apocalypses that could have derailed things and scarred me for what's left of my life.
So, has the whole experience made me happier and more optimistic?
Well, yes and no.
The "yes" answer is mostly in retrospect. I like it (in retrospect) that I was able to contribute so much to such a great event. Kids got to learn to play pieces from the foundations of Western music (this year's theme was Classical Era music). Teachers got feedback on their teaching. Parents and everyone else got to hear some fine playing and exposure to Western musical heritage.
But there is a little "no" mixed in with all of that. No one likes the full-on stress of something like this while it's in progress, especially if they're feeling as new and green at the job as I was. And there were so many, many pieces of paper to lose.
Back to the good side--the extreme busyness has made it easy for me to take time off this week. Watch a soccer match or a movie in the middle of the day? Hey, I earned it! Best to enjoy that entitlement before it wears off, though.
So yeah, I guess overall the experience did make me happier. At least on a temporary basis. We'll see if it lasts.
Let's end on something silly and sad. First the silly:




Now the sad. Sad to see a good piano get destroyed. But it is an interesting concept for a piece.
Read more about it here.

Sure, why not

When I was a teenager--a surly, unresponsive, depressed teenager--my grandmother used to give me a lot of advice that I never heeded.
One of her main themes was: Just stay busy. It doesn't really matter doing what. Just create some busy work to keep your mind off your troubles.
I never much cared for that idea, though, mainly because I didn't want to look back on a day spent in trivial tasks of the kind she usually suggested. I didn't want a lot of hobbies. I wanted my life to be so much bigger.
Now that I've lived longer and find myself somewhat stuck in a pessimism pattern I don't know how to get out of, I'm willing to take a second look at busy-ness as an attitude adjuster.
I've been busy before. The years I was working on a music composition degree while teaching and raising kids were busy. And I was so, so glad when things finally began to let up.
But to be honest, there are good points to busy-ness. You get the satisfaction of having accomplished a lot. When it's over. You get the exhilaration of the deadline push and the feeling of being needed by others.
Maybe that's what was going through my head when I agreed to take on not one but two big tasks for music teacher organizations this fall. Then again maybe it was just good old-fashioned mental illness.
Whatever the subconscious reason, I find myself heading up the directory yearbook for Federated Music Teachers and coordinating Fall Festival for the Kansas City Music Teachers--two volunteer jobs at which I have no previous experience. Fall Festival, in particular, gets unusual and amusing reactions from most other piano teachers when I mention I've signed on (ducking down, covering the face, the index-finger sign of the cross).
As advertised, Fall Festival doesn't happen until fall. But already I've had one mini-heart attack crisis having to do with the venue.
It's funny how the events of the past year have loosened me up and reset my personal bar of crazy. In the past, I might have been too terrified to take on the festival. But you know what went through my head when they called me this year? "Fall Festival? What's the worst that could happen? Would it be worse than a pay cut? Worse than the erasure of our college fund? Fall festival? This is nothing."
So, yes, by all means, let's test this idea. Let's keep my idle hands from becoming the devil's keyboard--er--playground.
Perhaps it will end in disaster. But it couldn't possibly be worse than the year we've just endured.