When holding what I wanted to be THE winning lottery ticket it, I thought about what I would do with the money. At the time I was at the Chamber Music America conference serving on a panel with Oni Buchanan, founder of Ariel Artists, and Andrea Walters of the Santa Fe Opera, thanks to the invitation of Charlton Lee with the Del Sol Quartet. Being surrounded by musicians, composers, presenters, arts administrators and agents – people passionate about music – was incredibly inspiring. My first idea of what to do with my lottery winnings was that I would give away most of it with the aim of supporting arts efforts by people such as these. It is the arts that make us human. The arts entertain us, challenge us, document our times, and touch our souls. How amazing it would be to reach people through the power of the arts with my lottery winnings?!
My sister would use her winnings to support the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing, a cause she actively supports. What do you support with your time and energy? No doubt it would be amazing to have millions of dollars to support the things near and dear to us, but perhaps the way each of us can truly “win” the lottery is by pausing to ponder how we allocate our current resources. Our time and energy are as valuable as cold hard cash. Why do we need to wait for a combination of numbers to tell us we can freely spend our winnings? Why not start today?
My dream of having blocks of hours for private jet travel with Nicholas Air will have to wait, but I definitely feel as if I won the lottery just the same because I have the ability to dream, to create, and thoughtfully consider how to allocate the time, energy and resources I already have to share, whatever the size.
Thank you for being with me on this Camera Journey. Here’s to a great 2016!