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| "Its the zestineess that I am after this summer. The dynamic experience is pleasurable, instructing and enriching, but the zesty opportunity, the chance to experience something so unique to my time here, and so personally enriching, that is what I'm after." |
This is the summer of dynamic experience. I use the definition, playing off of the musical connotations it carries. I imagine this summer as a piece of music, as Diana Krall's "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." It eases and flows in warm melodies, louder rhythms and jazzy runs. The days here are fluid. They start with a bike ride in the cool Aspen air, followed by a full days work at the Aspen Institute, drinks, dinner, drinks again, fun with friends and coworkers, and maybe a few minutes with a book before bed. Plus, everyday has its surprise ingredient: a fun concert, a hike, a dip in the hot tub, an encounter with anyone from the coolest local around, to a world-renowned scholar, chef or celebrity. And as the day evolves, the rhythm picks up, boosting you along with a spicy energy to the next zesty opportunity that waits just beyond the steady chorus of the day.
Now, I need to define the word zesty before I continue. When you read this word, imagine a zesty sauce. In this sense, the zest catches your attention. It makes you stop, think and reexamine what you are eating. If you take its musical meaning, a zesty performance will surprise you with its lively and "piquant" qualities. It too makes you reevaluate the performance and in so doing, the zesty aspects of a musical number set it apart from others and make it notable in your mind. It is this quality that I am excited to experience this summer. I am looking forward to the zesty surprise of meeting women who have overcome enormous levels of tragedy in order to rise to the highest strengths and share their gifts with the world. I am looking forward to the zesty revelations that come while hiking a trail, provoked by the thoughts that pop up between steps on the rocky incline. I am looking forward to the zesty nourishment that comes from interacting with world renowned leaders, comedians, actresses and actors, academics, officials, and rebels. I am looking forward to each and every single one of these zesty surprises because of the impact that it will have on me and my growth as I move through the summer.
This blog will be a place for me to share not only my dynamic summer experience, but also the zesty pieces that accompany my time here. I hope that it will turn into a composition of the beautiful melodies and intricate sounds that guide me through my time in Aspen and shape me in new and unexpected ways. And above all else, I look forward to living out Diana Krall's "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" here in Aspen as I fall for the incredible beauty and challenging, but pleasurable atmosphere in this truly unique Coloradan town.
