DISCOVERING MY INTEREST IN JAZZ

I've been telling people that we all need to "rewire early and to rewire often." What I mean is that we constantly need to be looking at our life and adding and deleting activities, interests, even relationships. We need to learn how to discard and how to add. Many people across the country have told me that they don't have a hobby, or even an interest. They've become too family and work -oriented, or just tired, and they've lost their fun.

I don't remember how, where or why but a few years ago I developed a low level interest in jazz. I stress the word, low level, because I want everyone to realize that passions don't just happen...they build. I wasn't just listening to jazz, I found myself at Jazz At Lincoln Center ; I watched the Ken Burns video on JAZZ. I'm someone who needs to know the background on a topic..how did jazz get birthed? What makes jazz, jazz? Where does Miles or "Bird" or Dizzy fit in? Why were they considered great?

One of my personal drivers in life is to constantly be learning. To give me a jumpstart, Michael Bomwell, a New York-based jazz saxaphonist, lent me The Smithsonian Collection of Classical Jazz. It is great! I am really understanding Jazz, the Blues, Ragtime and Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton!

I'm also reading the VERY colorful autobiography of MILES DAVIS and can say that there appears to be a lot of regret, recovery and fulfillment in the world of jazz artists. As my interest has been growing, I have been doing more exploring, and just discovered that a colleague from my days at WORKING WOMAN magazine, Marc Myers, writes one of the web's most popular daily blogs, JazzWax.com. Marc's writing has also been exciting and his love and knowledge of jazz makes reading his blog a joy and an overall experience! So my rewiring has allowed me to reconnect with a friend and get great jazz insights on a daily basis!

Yes, life is still challenging; unemployment is up and the Dow is down (at least today it is!) but the erraticness of life seems to be a bit more managable now that I have a new interest to explore and "cool" jazz constanly playing in the background. So how about it... are you ready to rewire and find your new fun?