Ghosts and Gratitude

I came back from my East Coast trip on Sunday evening, grateful to be back home by the Bay, and grateful for the energy and ideas I absorbed during my week away.  I also returned with a fair amount of nostalgia in my baggage, as often happens after revisiting old haunts.  New York is full of ghosts for me, mostly good and friendly ones.  I have literally lost several friends and mentors from New York in recent years, and I feel their loss almost daily, but it becomes more poignant when I’m back where I first knew and loved them.  The city is also full of the ghosts of dreams and expectations, many of which have been realized or altered, and a few of which have been deferred.
 
My week away reawakened dreams (is that an oxymoron?) I have had personally and professionally for many years, and re-vitalized some of the dreams I have had for SFGC more recently.  At the three performing arts convenings/congresses I attended, a fundamental but important theme emerged – gratitude.  The tone of each group was one of thanks and appreciation for the hard work done by the members and staff of each organization, and for the fellowship and wisdom of colleagues from across the country and around the world.  Despite disaster, war, economic uncertainty and changing cultural values, each group came together in appreciation for what they were still able to do to advance their art, and with a renewed commitment to work together.  I’ve always said that the performing arts are a team sport, and that extends to the leadership of arts organizations as well.  So, a big dream I have for SFGC is that we will continue to create a culture of gratitude, graciousness and team spirit in all we do.  What better example to set for the girls who take part in our programs?

Another big dream I have is for SFGC to be known, understood and appreciated for its musical excellence around the world.  The arts are truly a global community, and we need to be part of it.  A year ago today we were given the gift of a lifetime, the opportunity to sing on the world stage at President Obama’s inauguration ceremony.  In Washington D.C. last Friday, I had some time to walk through the city with colleagues from Chorus America.  The weather warmed up, the sun shone, and we walked past the White House to the Capitol and then along the Mall to the Washington Monument.  (Having just read Dan Brown’s latest thriller, set in DC, my eyes were wide open to the architectural symbolism everywhere.)  Thinking about January 20, 2009 as I walked that day, I was filled with enormous gratitude and pride in our girls, in our organization, and in our country.

Hold on to dreams…for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
---- Langston Hughes