Change of Scenery

A week ago I moved to Bloomington, Indiana to begin work on my Masters degree. Having spent most of the past four years of my life in New York City, I found myself having to adjust pretty heavily to the small town/rural environment that I now find myself in. I must say that this town is growing on me every day. The picture perfect homes with their perfectly manicured lawns and the statuesque architecture of the Indiana University Campus have really made an impact on me. I now find myself in a serene environment with smells of freshly cut grass and the sounds of birds chirping.

That being said I do still miss a lot of things about New York City. Although I have been walking everywhere here in Bloomington, it is not as much of a walking town like New York City is (I have yet to visit a place that has been). This is evident by minimal sidewalk space and poorly lit streets. I find myself, for the first time, considering the conveniences of having a car. It would be so easy for me to get groceries or it would be so easy for me to have flexibility in the jobs I take. Right now there is a sense of being limited to the general vicinity I find myself in. Can I walk there or take the bus there with relative ease? If not, then let the planning commence. As time progresses, I'm sure this will not be as much of an issue as it appears to be currently.

One of the things that I've been loving about being here is the passion of the people who surround me. Not to say that passion did not exist in New York City (it definitely was there) but I feel as though the people that I have met here are not as jaded in some way. They are all still madly in love with their callings and still have every faith in their abilities. In New York, with the competition so fierce and the jobs so limited, there seemed to be a sense of dejection among many of my peers. That environment motivated people in varying ways, with some people feeding off of it and others not so much. Here in the Midwest, everyone seems to be having a positive reaction to this environment. I'm so excited to see where my musicality will go while I'm here and the kind of musician that I will be when I leave in two years. Now, I'm off to go practice my orchestra excerpts.