[SingleMan]

Hi everyone,
I am so excited to share this! While I was in the Wisdom Course in 2009, the question was posed "what childhood dreams did you give up on, or have you forgotten?" It was a great question. And it brought back something I'd wanted to do ever since I was a kid, and had forgotten about: conduct a real symphonic-type orchestra. Yes, over the years I've conducted in the studio, but that didn't really count as they never watch you anyway!

It all came back: how I used to lie in bed at night listening to music and pretending to conduct it; how I watched Leonard Bernstein on TV and how HE conducted; how I got front-row tickets to "Sweeney Todd" in its 1980s LA premiere just so I could watch the great Paul Gemignani conduct; how I've watched greats like Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams conduct in the studio over the years, sitting just a few feet away from them, or at the Hollywood Bowl, etc. And yet, I'd somehow given up on ME ever doing something like that! It hit me like a thunderbolt. And since that time, thanks to my participation in various Landmark seminars, I had brought that dream back to life, standing in the possibility that it could come true and SHOULD come true. And a month ago… it did!

This past July, I'd been asked by my wife's cousin if I would consider putting together an evening of film music for her orchestra, the Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra of Bismarck, ND, and then come to Bismarck in November and conduct the program. I said "sure!" But inside my mind was racing. "Can I really pull this off?" I also expanded the scope of the concert by making it a fundraiser to aid in the massive flood damage in North Dakota. I called the show "The Big Picture" to refer both to film music AND the bigger picture outside the venue.

I didn't have much time to think about it, as my wife Ellen and I spent 5 weeks in London and Edinburgh doing her show. When I got back I only had about 6 weeks to get ready for the concert, which involved (a) getting the music I wanted, (b) rewriting some of it, (c) dusting off the music from my own collection, (d) getting it to the orchestra members and encouraging them to "go outside their comfort zone" when approaching it, and … oh yes, (e) LEARNING HOW TO CONDUCT. I was fortunate that our mutual friend is Dr. Victor Vener, the conductor of the California Philharmonic. We've been big supporters of him and the orchestra, and he agreed to a barter agreement: he'd teach me to conduct if I taught him how to use a Macintosh! And he was great. Because of time constraints I only had 2 lessons on the phone, and literally only one in person before leaving. He later told me "I never taught you anything; you already knew it. All I did was get you to believe it."

It was a crazy week in Bismarck; Ellen and I both were teaching at the state college, giving media interviews (radio, TV, newspaper) as Ellen was also performing her show "Now That She's Gone" for two perf's the day after my concert, and of course rehearsals. http://tinyurl.com/3g8qc8m I discovered what I'd always suspected: most of what a conductor does is instill confidence in the orchestra that they have what it takes to perform whatever is asked of them. And I also discovered that I like conducting and that I am good at it! And the orchestra was wonderful, as was the concert itself. People in the audience had tears in their eyes, a woman wrote a $2000 check virtually on the spot, and even a state Supreme Court justice was moved. And the event is already leading to other engagements.

This is the beginning of a new chapter for me, all made possible because of what I got from the Wisdom Course, and from the seminars we take in Pasadena that helped me to not listen to that little voice in my head that never has anything good to say. I have a new future because of Landmark Education, and I am so grateful. How often do we ever get to say "I made a childhood dream come true?"

[Mmccqrtb]

Phenomenal share! Your results demonstrate the power of that question - definitely got me thinking about what things are waiting for me from my childhood... Thanks!