looking closely at the ordinary…

My name is Caroline Welsh and I am a musician by training. I play the flute and my musical life brings me many chances to enjoy the incredible depth of connection that music offers and that is so deeply moving and meaningful to me. I find myself in this community of connectedness in different ways: such as when the group of people that is an orchestra, or a chamber ensemble, or a choir come together with one mind, to bring to life something dreamed up by a composer, or when a group of people who don’t consider themselves to be musicians ventures into improvisation together to capture the essence of this moment, this mood, this person…

Through this work with people who are not trained musicians, who may find communicating things that are important to them very hard because of illness or disability, I have learned a great deal about what is possible to communicate in words and what is beyond the reach of everyday language. I have noticed time and time again how it is possible to know the heart of a stranger without saying a single word. I have learned how important these most fleeting moments of human connection can be as we each go along on our parallel paths, and how much it means to feel seen, to belong in human harmony together.

Above all my work in music has taught me to look closely for the smallest signs of connection, and I find that I now look for that everywhere, wherever I go. This blog is a place for me to share some of what I notice, and to allow these observations of life going on in the world around me to free the small details of my own story that float around in the ether trying to help me make sense of myself.

I hope you like some of the pieces I share and that they encourage you to pay closer attention to all that is going on around you, too.