Otsukaresamadesu

After 2 years, today was my last Committee meeting.  It's time to pass on the responsibilities and involvement to other members who will be shaping the course and nature of HPAC for their coming years.  For almost as long as I've been on the Committee, I've been trying to advocate more chamber music at HPAC and today the office gave us a list of dates and asked us to pick two for core member only chamber music concerts.  It felt like a small victory and I was really proud of our team.  I was surprised by how sad I felt to tell them it was my last meeting, and how sad I was not to be a part of scheduling the next one.  It's so rewarding to build a trust with others and work towards a goal together, even if there are difficulties along the way.  I hope that the chamber music trend will continue.  At the very least, it feels good to have stuck with something in the midst of doubt–my own and others'–and in the midst of many obstacles and in the face of accrued momentum.  The office is taking a risk in doing this for us and we are forging new territory in saying we will try.  It takes time to establish something.  It's taken two years of learning to understand a place, becoming familiar with what it has to offer, how it could grow, and what can be done in the midst of the difficulties, known and unknown, that are present.

I'm sad to be leaving the work, but assured that it is time to pass it along.  It is a small sign of how hard it will be to leave this place at the end of the year.  But to feel that I've built something with those that were here with me is rewarding.  And to let it go in their hands as they see best is also rewarding.  I'll have no need to hold on to it.  It belongs to them.