Clara

Robert and Clara Schumann were a musical couple. They both composed, and Clara was a concert pianist. Unfortunately, Robert was mentally unstable, so Clara had to tour and give many concerts to earn money for the family. Robert also wanted children. So Clara also raised seven children and eventually some grandchildren. Clara was a strong, talented woman, devoted to her husband and children. In Robert's journal he writes of Clara:

"..to have children, and a husband who is always living in the realm of imagination, does not go together with composing. She cannot work at it regularly, and I am often disturbed to think how many profound ideas are lost because she cannot work them out."

I think motherhood is a worthy cause. I truly do, let's get that straight.
But as I read this quote, I thought about life in general. Too often, we find ourselves centered on work - housework, homework, workplace - work, work, work. With all of the to-do lists (trust me, I know to-do lists) and errands, it's easy to let profound ideas flow in one ear and out the other. Imagine the impact of 10 solitary minutes to think, to expound, to create. I think it could transform the quality of our lives.

At the end of my life, I don't want my head to be stuffed with brilliant ideas that I neglected to develop, share, or create. So, I will take my ten minutes and think. Thank you very much.

And that's what Jenny thinks.

Weak Things

Everyone is challenged on a daily basis. Setbacks are hurled at us in every direction. Opportunity for discouragement and depression abound. A combination of all of these hard things often make it seem as though we are weak. It is easy to feel weak-emotionally, physically, spiritually, or mentally - in today's world. After a long day, it seems as though the time gobbled me up. I wonder, how am I supposed to make it through several more decades when this one day kicked my trash? It is easy to say, I am weak. I read this scripture the other day:

"To their astonishment, the city of Noah, which had hitherto been a weak place, had now, by the means of Moroni, become strong...."

I thought for a moment, and then I decided that by the means of Jenny McKay, weak things will become strong. We are all weak in some way or another. The challenge is looking over these setbacks to find the strengths and talents that abound in each of us. If we could all be the means of finding strength in a time of trial, then we could conquer the world.

And that's what Jenny thinks.

Donut

A few weeks ago, in church, we sang a hymn. I know, it's hard to believe. And of course, some lyrics caught my eyes:

"May union, peace, and love abound,
and perfect harmony,
And joy in one continual round
Through all eternity."

I liked the imagery of joy being one continual round. Neverending. Infinite. Continuous. Joy. That is what life should be - one continual round of joy. Hardships abound, and errors constantly occur. But nothing gives us enough reason to live without joy for even one second. My choir director, Sister Hall, talks about how often she eats a delicious meal without really enjoying it. Life is full of rich deliciousness if we are conscious enough to notice it. Every moment can be joyful. Every bite of life is filled with sweetness just for our enjoyment. So often we forget that is what life is about. Life isn't about getting done. Life is about savoring every, last, joy-filled second. Life is basically an endless donut - a continuous round of joy.

And that's what Jenny thinks.

Minutes

Justin Roberts writes kids songs. One of my favorites is called "Minute" and it only lasts 60 seconds. It is about those moments that mothers say "Just one minute" and kids know that it is never just one minute. One line in the song struck me:

"We're all just minutes."

I am approximately 10,467,600 minutes. We are all just minutes. Our grandparents are many, many minutes, while our baby brothers and sisters are very few minutes. But all life is, is minutes. It doesn't make a difference how many minutes we live. The only thing that matters is that we fill those minutes until they are overflowing. When you think of it that way, it is hard to believe that we fill so many minutes with anger, frustration, gossip, and grudges or computers, head phones, and texting. In an examination of my life, I find I fill my minutes with too much worry. Instead of picking up the flowers of joy and smelling them, I just trip over them and leave them for someone else. I must make it a point in my life to replace worry with wisdom, jealousy with joy, and laziness with love. So, think about it. How do you fill your minutes?

And that's what Jenny thinks.

I owned that

I am a singer, leader, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, niece, etc. I am so many things. And in wearing all of these hats, I do many things. One thing that is most important to me is ownership. Taking ownership over what I do is very important to me. Every song I sing, every project I create, every relationship I develop - I strive to take ownership over them.

For a long time, I have struggled to find my career path. Unfortunately, I enjoy a large plethora of activities, so my decision is not so easy. Music? Leadership? Something else? WHAT? My uncle called me the other night and said the words I needed to hear. He basically told me he was proud of me and that I will accomplish great things no matter what direction I choose. Thos were words I needed to hear as well as these ones...

Georgia O'Keeffe very wisely said,

"Before I put brush to canvas, I question, 'Is this mine? Is it all intrinsically of myself? Is it influenced by some idea or some photograph of an idea which I have acquired from some man?'"

So, I got to thinking. It honestly doesn't matter what I do, as long as it is mine, as long as I own it, as long as iti s "intrinsically of myself." It gives new meaning to the statement, "You owned this or that." When I am through with this life, I want to look back and confidently say, "I owned that life."

And that's what Jenny thinks.

Evaporation

I recently visited a very modern art exhibit in Santa Fe. It included dozens of artistic films and videos. Some were a little strange and inventive, but there was one that caught my attention. It was a continuous video of an artist painting a man's face with water on the sidewalk. By the time the artist had finished the face, the first half had already evaporated away. The face was constantly deteriorating while the artist was continually reconstructing it. The simplicity of the message was as poignant to me as a jalapeno.

Are we not the face? Constantly deteriorating as we face every challenge and trial the world has to foffer? Are we not the artist? Continually finding the strength to reconstruct and improve ourselves?

As hard as it might be to travel day to day, week to week, year to year, and somehow we must find the courage to continue - the courage to continue improving and reconstructing ourselves. Our job, as artists, is never complete. If I am stagnant, I know I will quickly evaporate. The only way we can complete our picture is with patience, determination, and endurance. If I can do that, I know I will create a masterpiece.

And that's what Jenny thinks.

Georgia

Never before has an art exhibit so fully engulfed my spirit as it did on August 15th, 2010. My visit to the Georgia O'Keefe Abstraction Exhibit was magical. I'm not exactly sure why, but I connected to this exhibit more than any other art I've seen. In my struggles to write down every word and picture that tickled my heart, the most angelic security guard walked up to me, tapped me on the shoulder, and handed me a packet full of the quotes included in the exhibit. I almost cried right then and there.

As I breathed in every abstract painting and gobbled up every sage quote, I felt connected to Georgia O'Keeffe. Her images and words sunk deep into my soul. I felt like I knew her. I felt like I was watching her create these masterpieces. I felt as if she was holding my hand and describing what each painting meant.

I felt as if we were old friends. She sums up very nicely how I felt:

"If I could put down accurately the thing that I saw and enjoyed, it would not give the observer the kind of feeling it gave me. I had to create an equivalent for what I felt aobut what I was looking at - not copy it."

All I'm saying is that I could feel it. And I hope everyone can experience something like this at some point in their life.

And that's what Jenny thinks.