Concert Pianist Pens Memoir and Guide for Living

 Title: Whenever You're Ready; How to Compose the Life of Your Dreams

Author: Jeeyoon Kim

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press

Publication Date: August 24, 2021

Length: 264 Pages

About the Author
Jeeyoon Kim is a professional concert pianist who has performed in venues like Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society in San Francisco, and the Stradivari Society in Chicago. As an accomplished performing artist and award-winning music educator, she credits her success to key disciplines, practices, and mindsets that she lives out every day.

Composing the Life of Your Dreams
Jeeyoon Kim has written a memoir that details her life as a concert pianist. She shares her techniques for preparing yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically for your own performances.

The book is organized like a piano concert:

• Prelude
• Movement #1; Practice until Practicing Is a Part of Your Normal Life
• Intermission #1
• Movement #2; Guard Your Mind and Keep Negativity at Bay
• Intermission #2
• Movement #3; Create, Dream, and Play
• Intermission #3
• Movement #4; Connect with Yourself, Others, and the Universe
• Intermission #4
• Movement #5; Take Care of Your Body and Your Environment
• Encore

At the end of each chapter, there are activities for you to apply in your own life.

My Thoughts
This book is magnificent. I found it to be informative, inspiring, and motivational.  I am a pianist (beginner/intermediate) and could relate to many of the experiences the author had in her childhood years of piano lessons, practicing and perfecting her skills. I was interested in how she deals with the "jitters" that many musicians deal with before performing in public. Jeyoon Kim learned at a young age that she would need to dedicate her entire life to music if she was going to achieve her goals and make her dreams come true.

This book is much more than a biography of the author's life. She shares her secrets for living a successful life and dealing with the challenges that we all ultimately face. There are workbook-like activities at the end of each chapter to help readers apply key concepts to their own situations. 

I found the first section of this book, "Practice until Practicing Is a Part of Your Normal Life", especially helpful. The techniques in this section of the book can be applied to any skill that you want to excel in. The author reminds us that the turtle wins the race over the rabbit. Perseverance and persistence are important traits to use when working toward a goal. The concept of natural talent is downplayed and a strong work ethic is emphasized.

I have been listening to Jeeyoon Kim's cd album "Over, Above, Beyond" while writing this review. The music is stunning. My favorite selection on the cd is her rendition of the classic children's song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

You can listen to the author play the piano on her YouTube Channel. 

I highly recommend this book!

5 STARS OUT OF 5

FYI ~ I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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Christmas Family Traditions

Many years ago my Aunt Katherine, my dad's sister, wrote down her family Christmas memories from the 1920s and 1930s.  I would like to share an excerpt from her writings and a glimpse of a Luehrman Family Christmas long ago when my father was a child.

Now for the family Christmas celebration! Santa Claus always brought our Christmas tree after we were in bed on Christmas Eve. Since we had no electricity, candles on holders helped decorate the tree. Several evenings after Christmas we were allowed to light the candles very cautiously while Mom and Dad stood ready to put out a fire or even carry the tree out of doors if necessary. The "stars" on that tree were brighter to our childish eyes than any electric lights could ever be. The tree always stood on the sewing machine in the dining room. The dining room and the kitchen were the only rooms ever heated in the winter unless we had lots of company. The dining room table was always set up with a plate for each member of the family. On this plate, Santa always put candy and an orange or two. We kids made a game of seeing who could make his Christmas candy last the longest, so we ate it very sparingly. We'd probably not have candy again until next Christmas.

Our Christmas gifts would be placed next to our plates. Sometimes there was something too large for the table such as a little red wagon which had to be shared by the three of us. I remember getting doll furniture, roller skates (a real treat after we had seen some "town kids" skate at Grandma's house.) Usually there were clothes also...gloves, sweaters, caps, etc. One year we received a ping-pong set but no table so we played on our knees on the floor. Dad often played with us.

The most exciting Christmas of all was the year that Santa Claus brought us a new Kimball piano. I never did figure out how Santa ever managed to get it into the living room by himself. What a thrill it was for me to begin to play this wonderful musical instrument.

We always had Christmas dinner at Grandma's and Aunt Emma went all out to have a sumptuous meal. One year Aunt Emma dressed up and played Santa for all the kids. I was old enough to be wise to it, but how well I remember the excitement that it created for the "little ones".

We always had to gather around the piano and sing Christmas carols sometime during the afternoon. How proud Grandma was of her family!

Christmas evening supper around the table was filled with the love of family and the Christmas spirit within our hearts. We thanked God for the blessed event of the first Christmas as Dad read again to us the Christmas story from the Bible.

Written by Katherine Luehrman Dryer

*The picture is from an antique picture postcard from the early 1900s.

Do you have precious memories of family Christmas celebrations?

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Collage Greeting Cards From Old Book Pages

I have been thinking about different ways to recycle old books that are tattered and torn. Many of these are no longer useful as reading copies.
I made this collage greeting card this morning using a page from "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. This page was printed in the early 1900s and has a nice aged color.

I like to find pages that have inspiring quotations on them that the recipient of the card will enjoy. The chapter title of this page is "Artistic Attempts". I thought that was very appropriate since I was using the page to create an artistic project.
I also liked the last paragraph on the page;
"Very well, Amy; if your heart is set upon it, and you see your way through without too great an outlay of money, time and temper, I'll say no more. Talk it over with the girls, and whichever way you decide, I'll do my best to help you."
"Thanks, mother; you are always so kind;" and away went Amy to lay her plan before her sisters.

I tore off a strip of blue Mulberry Paper and attached it to the book page with glue dots. (I found the paper at Big Lots.) I then used a piece of flocked patterned paper that looks like fuzzy piano keys across the blue paper. I used a small piece of silver/white patterned paper right under the chapter heading (I found both sheets of the patterned paper on clearance at Hobby Lobby). I applied an embossed reproduction of an image from an antique card on top of the piano keys. I found the package of antique art reproductions (Artifacts, Inc.) on clearance at Michaels.

I think this is a creative way to recycle old book pages and bring some joy into a special person's life. Who knows, this card might inspire someone to find a copy of "Little Women" and read the entire book. 

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.