Joy of the Day, Day 17: Ukulele

I started playing the violin in the third grade, and quit a few years later. I don’t really remember why I stopped studying music, but likely it just didn’t fit into my busy middle school existence—there were many, many more important things to care about—and so it just fell away. I haven’t picked up an musical instrument since, until today.

A little bit to my surprise, Stephen didn’t laugh when I told him a few days ago that I wanted to learn how to play the ukulele. Instead, he immediately set about finding one, and by dinnertime tonight we had the little beauty pictured below tuned and ready to play.

Even though my little music enrichment project is a tiny endeavor in the swirling scheme of things, it’s still humbling to start something from scratch. I have a strong suspicion that learning to play music again will not be at all like riding a bike. But since so much about this season of life feels untethered—like all bets are now off—stretching out into new territory seems like the natural thing to do, and I’m so grateful for the chance.

Today, my new ukulele is my joy. #joyinplace