December, 2004 - Nr. 12
Letter from the Editor
Dear Reader
It is that time of year so many of us feel that we do not have enough time for this, that or the other. A lot of extra demands are made on our resources, including time. After an enquiry of "How are you?" nearly every conversation continues with " I am so busy, I have no time for anything!"
Time, this most elusive of commodities, is strictly something that exists only because moving particles in the physical universe have to overcome a distance. There is no such thing as a static situation, even atoms move while they look stationary to us within their molecular structure as part of some object.
Thus we really cannot have time, own it, buy it, sell it; but one can create it, since it is measured by how fast something moves from point A to point B. If we move ourselves and or any particles fast enough then we can do more of the same. If we are doing it slowly then we will not move a lot of particles, including our bodies, in that same amount of time it took us doing it fast.
So fast is more desirable, because we get more done. Moving fast makes more time to move stuff, do stuff…In other words: " I have no time," means, "I have to create some time."
Ideally we use the time created beyond the call of duty for something enjoyable and worthwhile.
For myself that means that I make time to visit friends, explore something new, read a book, go to concerts and interest myself in other people.
Meeting people in another setting than strictly work is probably one of the most enjoyable things.
As a German Canadian publication I always search for the "German connection" in all that is offered, but occasionally I stretch it. When Chick Corea came to Massey Hall I just had to go. I remembered his last concert in this town, and knowing that Jazz is a very popular musical art form in Germany, I justified that that was enough reason to report on it.
Note that I say "in Germany"…I remember well the event many years in front of Toronto City Hall, when Frankfurt and Toronto celebrated their ties with an imported German jazz band, that our local Germans were quite upset about the choice of music. For them it was not German enough, while I thought that it was the jazz that was the ideal sound and variation of an art form to bring us together.
Enough said about that, but music does have amazing qualities and can make miracles. Please read my report "Music Transport".
There was other music last month, such a as a couple of concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Opera York’s presentation of Bizet’s Carmen.
One concert I did not feel qualified to review at all. Therefore I asked a percussionist musician friend of mine, Dee Potter, to do it for me. You will find a short report from him in the paper and a really long one on the net at www.echoworld.com under "Drummer of a Different Beat".
We went for 3 days to the Danube Swabian Club’s Christmas Fair. It was a study in humanity, I can tell you; and since I love people I enjoyed it very much, for the most part.
I
also undertook a wonderful trip to Oshawa with my Italian neighbour and
friend Lena Alessandrini. Her son, a prominent doctor in Oshawa, and his
wife were participating in a house showing with a Christmas theme, all done
to support and raise funds for a Durham Christian Academy in the town. From
all the homes I visited I liked theirs the best, simply because it was all
done by them, it was stylish but not overdone, it had warmth and was
inviting, decorative without being contrived, it had class but was not
forbidding, formal - not too much so - yet cozy. The ideas suited the house
and its occupants well and was welcoming to one and all, even a stranger.
(see our front page)
We missed the St. Martin’s parade because we could not find out in time exactly where and when it would take place…and then there was no more time…and it was over! What a pity! It is one of my most favourite events of the year!
I definitely think that we have to talk a bit more about time and how one can create more of it for pleasurable purposes if communication is more expertly applied.
Now is the time for more concerts and music events, luncheons and dinners, all geared to the celebration of this festive season. I really wish I could attend all of them, but…there is not enough time!
However, I did make time to cover the porch with evergreen branches taken from the gardener who pruned the neighbor’s trees. I am already in the mood…and hope Santa is too…I do not mind falling for a bit of commercialism if it is something that has lasting value and I really enjoy, like a piece of art or jewellery…yet a smile, a hug, a self-made card and some genuine togetherness will do it too!
I hope you have lots of time for all the things that make this time of year so special.
Have a happy Advent!
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: editor@echoworld.com
