I have been traveling through France, making my way to the tiny town of Sancerre in the Loire Valley. Here, we will stay a few weeks so that I can study French and mingle with the locals.

As we listen to the radio in our cars, we have no problem changing the channel when we do not like the song. We make it a habit to play music we enjoy.

How to Design Your Life: I grew up in a small town with three sisters. Wanting to indulge our possible talents and interests, my parents invested in a baby grand piano and piano lessons. Our teacher, Anne Scoggins, not only provided excellent instruction in her music studio, but she also insisted we go before adjudicators at Meredith College to get written critiques and a certificate of our progress each year. Not being terribly dedicated to honing our craft, these annual performance reviews became quite stressful.