Yes, I cry during Disney movies, too...

I admit it, my heart strings dangle conveniently for every songwriter and film director to tug at as they see fit.  I just got finished watching "Rise of the Guardians" by Dreamworks.  On the surface, it's your standard protagonist-goes-on-journey-of-self-discovery-and-finds-his-place-in-the-world kind of flick.  Did I buy into it, hook, line and sinker?  Yes.... yes I did.

Without giving away too much, I will say that part of the movie involves 'finding your center' - the thing that drives your purpose and ultimately, your decisions and actions.  That bit crashed through my "Oh, it's just a cute movie for kids" defenses without much resistance - especially since the Santa character was basically talking about ME when he was talking about HIS 'center'

So I'll cut to the chase - I have to stop pretending that I want to be a competitive music teacher.  The world seems to want me to want to be a competitive music teacher - to add the words "award-winning" to the NRHS Music Dept. Banner.  But the truth is, that's not my 'center'.   Every time I think about it, I get depressed and have serious feelings of inadequacy.  All of my friends who are competitive music teachers are good at it..... and they ARE good teachers.  Their students feel a sense of pride and purpose, and I envy the drive and commitment that those teachers inspire.

But that's not me.  My center has always been my sense of wonder - the thing that hooks onto a piece of music and whisks me away to where it wants to take me, and I go along as a wide-eyed child.  That's the experience I want to pass along to my students.  Every time I stay true to that, I do well, every time I stray from that (which is often) I don't.

So like every other Disney/Dreamworks cliche'... I need to stop pretending I'm something I'm not, and drive home the advantage of being who and what I am, because obviously I am appreciated for it.

Roll credits.