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In this letter

Your inner voice is the key

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I'm giving you homework.

​Before you close this email in protest, read to the end! I promise it won't hurt too much.

First of all, it's the kind of homework you do in fuzzy socks with a mug of something warm. It'll actually feel less like work and more like getting to breathe and feel. (Aka your nervous system gets a good rest)!

Here's the assignment:

Spend 30 minutes between now and the new year asking yourself what you actually want—not as a clarinetist, but as a complete person who happens to play clarinet.

Sure, lol, it could be what you want from Santa. Make sure it's not what you should want. Not what looks impressive. Not what your teacher or the audition list or the little voice in your head that sounds suspiciously like your college professor says you should be doing.
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Here are the instructions (plus a few of my favorite things):

1. Light a candle. My favorite candle is from Big Dipper Wax Works. The unscented ones have a light honey-like scent, and the company sources from sustainable beekeeping farms, donating % 5% back.

2. Make some tea. Right now loving the Trader Joe's Harvest Tea for the evenings when I want to wind down. It's a sweet-spicy sit-by-the fire after coming from the cold type tea.

3. Get cozy. My house slippers are Bombas Gripper Slippers. Got them as a gift last year, and gifting widely this year!

4. Grab a pen and paper. Absolute favorite is the Pilot Juice Up 04. For $3.24 you can pick from a ton of colors. (Who thinks I should include them as a gift with planner purchase?!)

5. Write: What do you actually want?
​Write it down—messy, unpolished, stream of consciousness. This isn't easy! Try putting it in list form. Or do a thought map. (​​Download this mind map to help​​).

Do you want to perform more chamber music? Teach less and play more (or the reverse)? Finally record that recital that's been living in your head for three years? Start the studio? Run the festival? Write the method book? Have more time with your family? Travel with your horn? All of these things and have no idea how they fit together??

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The legendary clarinetist Giora Feidman talks about the "inner voice" that becomes audible through breath and sound. He says, "The clarinet is the instrument of my soul."

But before the clarinet can become the instrument of your soul, you have to know what your soul is actually saying.

That inner still voice—the one that guides your musicality, your phrasing, your artistry—it starts with clarity about who you are and what you want.

You can't express an inner voice you haven't listened to.

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Play this solo from the end of Night on Bald Mountain (or a piece of your choice, slow movement of Schubert Octet, the Swan, anything that you find sweet and stirring). Access that inner voice...

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After coaching clarinetists for 20+ years and traversing this myself - I have found:

Those who build sustainable, fulfilling careers don't have it all figured out from the start. They DO give themselves permission to dream messily, plan imperfectly, and adjust along the way. They learn to listen to their inner voice before they express it through their clarinet. They integrate all aspects of life as a human being, give voice to dreams and desires, and discover purpose along with pursuit.

They create space—actual, physical space—for dreams to live and breathe.

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This homework is about being real, being more of you. It might feel true, and it may feel vulnerable, with a dash of "not-good-enough" (yet). It will feel out of reach.

It's definitely not a resolution that you abandon by February. It's definitely not a "hack".

It's absolutely getting in the power and wholeness of the life you actually want to build.

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I adore this homework, and do it frequently.
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I spent the last 20 years building a holistic framework for my work with musicians: the inner work, technical work, the stage and communication work.

And I spent the last 5 months reinventing the Musicians' Practice Planner into a sanctuary for your dreams and goals. As Gloria Steinem says, “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.”

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It's with so much joy and excitement that I offer you The Practice with Purpose Planner. It's here!

⭐️ This is a place where you take those messy holiday homework thoughts and turn them into your roadmap for the next six months. We'll get to work, refining, framing, forecasting and getting in alignment.

⭐️ There are 50+ Roadmap pages to help you map your purpose, clarify your roles, design intentional practice on and off stage, and build outward from a foundation that's actually yours.

⭐️ The dashboard is 6 months of weekly planning space to actually live it—with room for the plot twists, the beautiful surprises, and the moments when you need to pause and recalibrate.

⭐️ It's not about a perfect, sticking-to-one plan, do-this-not-that world. It is about having a lived-in space where your dreams get to be imperfect and still sacred.

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So here's my invitation:

Do the homework. Share your words, list or map with me.

Then build it! Warning: It's sounds easy, but taking action involves being willing to feel uncomfortable, or "bad". Doing brave things can be hard. We all want to feel "good", which is why we choose to stay small or not do the thing.

But if you want to do the thing, the planner ships late December (soon!), which means you can start the new year with everything you need to make those cozy, but also daringly euphoric ideas real.​

What you're getting:

• Roadmap in three parts: The inner work, your path, and building outward (50 pages)
• Dashboard: the big picture at a glance to track progress, highlight what needs attention
• 240 pages | Premium lay-flat binding | A5 5.8" x 8.3" format
• Digital resource library: supporting guides, lessons, printables
• Includes tax and shipping
• A space to honor every role you play without losing yourself in any of them.
• $20 through 12/31 for a second planner
• $40 for a second planner any time in the future​
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​​[Get your planning system here] → $77 (and grab a second one for $20 through Dec 31) It's a partnership for the next 6 months to support you in being more beautifully you.
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Here's to a new year built from the inside out - and to finding that inner voice before you play it.

— Ixi

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tl;dr: Quiet. Tea. Coziness. Pen. Find your voice. Write. Play.

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