I feel like every time I get my schedule sorted out, something new and important comes up and I have to make room for it. “Can you come 15 minutes later for a lesson?” “Can we rehearse tomorrow instead of today?” “Can I cancel our lunch plans and reschedule them for another life?”
But as a friend I ran into at a concert the other night reminded me, it’s better to be a little too busy than to not have enough to do, at least as a working musician. Gotta pay those bills, right?
Summer is looking strong, however, and is going to full of teaching, making music, making background music, and *hopefully* some more time for fun and social activities than I’ve had. Last weekend was a wonderful reprieve, but I’m back into the feeling of being overwhelmed by what I need to do, and running from activity to activity. I’m prioritizing digesting lunch right now so I have a few moments to blog before I have to go practice.
Practice: another thing. The more concerts I schedule (and there are two quartet concerts and a piano/violin recital this summer so far) the more I really NEED to practice. Ideally I would practice several hours a day, every day…but I don’t have that amount of time to spend on it. At least not while maintaining relationships, keeping up on my house (who am I kidding, I don’t do that) and being active. Oh, and sleeping. I am and (I hope) will always be a firm proponent of getting a good night’s sleep as many nights per week as possible.
My violin is currently in the shop. I’d gone in with the idea of getting two bows rehaired and getting the winding fixed on my best bow, but then the owner started looking at my violin, and everything he mentioned he could fix or mess with were things that I had noticed needed improvement…so that’s another bill. I can’t wait to see how good (hopefully) it sounds when I get it back! I’ve got a loaner right now, and I’m playing on the very cheap bow that came with my electric violin (part of the set!) so I feel a little out of sorts with playing and practicing right now…another reason to take a few minutes to blog, right?
I like the success I’m currently having with keeping busy teaching and playing gigs. A couple months ago I kept saying that I would be less busy after such and such activity, and then that activity would pass and I’d be just as busy. I’m trying to retire that thought process and simply say, this is when I’ve got a day off, or just block off time to not work, and not feel guilty about it. I’ve realized that this summer will likely be my busiest in a long while, and that’s okay, and that I LIKE being busy working, and that I just have to make sure to prioritize my time so that I can do other stuff too, and that with my chosen profession, yes, I will miss other things, and that’s okay.
I had walked by this cake before, but finally got a picture. My feelings toward the SLSO are mixed and complicated, but I was reminded by the same friend I mentioned above, that I am not alone in that, and that one just has to ignore it and keep going. I enjoy attending the concerts. Yes, I was there on Saturday night, since a few people asked if they saw me. You did.
And now I must practice. What, I’m not sure, but the list of music is long and anything is better than nothing! We had a great quartet meeting this morning planning our next year and thinking about programming and I’m just so excited about what we are going to be playing. I’m in a very different place than I imagined a year ago, but it’s a good place right now, and I’m thankful for that.
