Ready to Ring

Bells are a huge part of my life.  Other passions have come and gone; my interest in other "hobbies" waxes and wanes.  I've rung bells for nearly 20 years (about 3/4 of my life) and from the day I started, I haven't stopped, not for a moment.  I'm starting this blog now because I'm turning a corner in my bell ringing.  This summer I auditioned for two professional groups and made it into both!  Sadly this means temporarily leaving the community group I've played with for the past 13 years, but I definitely will be returning to them as soon as my schedule permits.  Opus (the community group) is my family.  I grew up as ringer with them, and I'm not ready to move on from the group permanently.  However, as a musician and ringer, I needed something more than Opus to push me to be a better ringer.  For this reason, I auditioned for two professional groups, and I was accepted into both of them.  I say this with a measure of excitement and nervousness.  This will be a big stretch for me as a ringer and I'm both excited and nervous for that.  Oh, the two groups are Sonos and Velocity.  I will definitely be posting about both groups as I get into rehearsals and performances.

Ok, so a few items I want to cover.  As I launch into these two new groups, I am also striving to be more involved in the handbell world.  I don't know why it didn't occur to me before to make handbells a bigger part of my life, but up until now it's just been a little hobby I do.  My involvement in the handbell world has not reflected my passion for this uncommon instrument.  I definitely plan on changing that.  For starters, I'm working toward getting my handbell certification.  I also plan on doing more events.  This will all ultimately culminate in what I have determined to do with my life, which is use handbells in music therapy.

So, what does all this mean for this blog?  I learn best by teaching.  I remember things better when I write about them.  I plan on writing posts about my certification classes, Sonos and Velocity, my personal preferences in music, things I've learned and continue to learn as a ringer and musician, and anything else bell related I can think of.

This brings me to my final point for this post.  I have an introduction to make.  This is Annabelle:

A very good friend custom built Annabelle for me.  Annabelle will be accompanying me to all things handbell from now on.  As my sort of bell mascot, there will be many pictures of Annabelle and her adventures.

So that's it.  Hopefully bell people out there find me, non-bell people are welcome, too!  Whoever finds this blog, I hope you enjoy!