Passing notes

I am a huge note taker. During the season it's not uncommon for me to be walking around with my pockets stuffed full of folded pieces of paper covered in notes, thoughts, ideas etc. Every little thing that pops into my head about practice or a piece or just thoughts in general get written down and stored.

I picked up this habit of writing things down while I was working at this cafe in San Francisco. Because I worked the opening shift - 5 am till 12:30 - I saw a lot of city life that most people don't normally get to see and because the cafe I worked at was located in the CalTrains station, I got to see a lot of really strange and interesting things. I got the idea of jotting these things down onto old pastry bags so I could write about them later and I suppose it was only natural that this habit eventually made it's way into coaching and it's been that way ever since. While I was working at the University of Puget Sound, most of my spring planning went out the window and I relied heavily on the notes that I'd take or write down while at work.

Because cell phones have gotten smarter and because I got tired of forgetting to check the pants pockets for pens resulting in ink washes, I've turned away from the hand written notes. It's quicker to put them into the phone and it keeps the notes nice and fresh rather than well worn after forgetting about them for a day or two. However on occasion I will still find myself idly jotting down things after or before practice. In a way its calming and oddly satisfying seeing these piles of notes on your desk or sticking out of a folder or two. They're like growth rings on a tree.