On stage sits a vintage 1923 C Bechstein concert grand piano in this intimate space of a community theatre on a small island in BC.
On the three surrounding walls hang the paintings of an artist who grew up here and since moved to a different island. There are two pieces of sculpture made from wood on each side of the stage, and to the right under a spot light against the heavy dark curtains a locally made ceramic vase holds the flowers that share the early August bounty and hard work of this beloved island flower farmer, Alina.
On this night, fewer than 200 people sit completely taken by the pianist Élizabeth Pion. The pianist and the piano have something in common. They have both been on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City- so far from this place.
Élizabeth Pion introduced each section before she played- speaking with intellect and delivered beautifully with her wit in her second language.
She introduced us to the story of Mel Bonis [born Mélanie Hélène Bonis in 1858] before she played selections from Femmes de légende.
She started by saying that we might not have heard of her and that was exactly why she wanted to share her story. Ms. Bonis was studying at a music school in Paris as a student of César Franck. Claude Debussy was a fellow classmate. She fell in love with another musician but her parents didn’t want her to marry him or pursue her musical studies, so they pulled her out of school and married her to a man whose wife had died and she raised his 5 young children. After 10 years she returned to music. She started to compose again.
It really struck me that if she had not picked that back up, ( which I can only assume would have taken courage), I would not have had the great pleasure of sitting in that moment listening to an amazing piano player- herself inspired by the raw beauty of this music. It was moving for sure. One does not have to be an academic to appreciate how this music can speak to you in the experience of this present moment.
It is not lost on me and certainly Ms Pion refers to this as well- how grateful we are that Mel Bonis returned to creating something that spoke to her. Made something original. And as it happened made something that would outlive her – a gift in the world that would not exist had she let her circumstance dictate her future.
Last night, I was sitting outside at a concert in a garden where the singer songwriter, Allen Dobb spoke about coming back to his song writing seven years ago.
There are so many examples of people who come back to their creative lives.
I don’t believe we can ever go back as the same person.
I believe that when we “go back”- home, to work we love, to our creative selves, we go back with all those experiences woven in.
We go back richer.
The going back is proof that we survived life’s challenges.
And in that going back we have more to share, more questions to ask, more experiences to draw from.
So we are never late.
It is never too late for us to explore the thing that perhaps we started out wanting to create.
I think the real loss of not coming back to one’s creativity, back to yourself isn’t just that you miss out on the joy and challenge that Mel Bonis would have missed out on if she had let societal norms, pressure from parents and circumstance decide her future actions.
WE would have missed out because the world wouldn’t have her music.
And a young rising star from Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec wouldn’t be taking her music and her inspiring story to stages around the world in 2026.
I recently learned about la rentrée in France. The notion about how everyone is coming back…to school, to work, to new endeavours in this new season of fall.
I like that idea that one can return in a new season in life to start something new ( a new skill or interest). For me it takes away any whiff of the shame of not knowing it by now, or getting stuck in the idea that there is no time to learn something new.
The truth is that if you interested in being creative, in living life with a creative mindset, then you are right on time.
On Wednesday I am starting my free three day workshop called Begin Again. Its the perfect time to sign up!
That same day the doors open for my twelve week experience called Creative Again for people who would like to carry on with me, alongside a kind community of learners from around the world and their very own box with everything that they will need for making fun stuff delivered right to your door before the class begins on September 21st. ( That’s what arrived to my door yesterday- future student boxes that I will fill with all the ingredients to be mixed with our experience together and your own unique perspective). It’s going to be so much fun!
I am sharing this with you now because if you are like me and seeing the season change ( I really really love summer) and need something to look forward to this fall— Creative Again could be it!
I’ll be sharing more about Creative Again in a few days.
Imagine being able to say I am creative.
By Friday, if you join me in Begin Again you will be able to say just that. I am creative.
You must be logged in to post a comment.