I have been feeling out of balance lately, so I've been working on doing things that keep me happy and balanced and all that zen good stuff. I started by reading more fantasy, which seems to always be my fallback when I find myself in that work - try to sleep but end up watching Netflix all night - routine I seem to end up in from time to time. Then there's aerial, which you know about from class. Right now I'm only going once a week, but it's a start and I'll start taking classes again, so that's good. Yoga I have to do at least three days a week because I teach it, so that's consistent. Writing is still a struggle. Sometimes the hardest part is just pulling up the files to work on. I can't wait til the day where I can write for 16 hours without a second thought. I miss those days. But today I did something that's even hardest for me to get around to doing than writing, and that I do even less frequently. I pulled out my violin.
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I come from a musical family, and I started playing the violin when I was eight. My grandma made me practice everyday. It's not that I didn't enjoy the violin, but it was hard and tedious and what I really wanted to be doing was running around outside. I started enjoying it more as I got older, but then I also had less time to practice, and it wasn't my priority. School came first before everything, and I did my Associates while in high school. I played for the Murray Symphony Orchestra on and off while I was in high school, but I didn't have to practice for that like I did private lessons. I couldn't balance the violin and school, and I spent most of my free time writing anyway.
A month or so ago, I was at my grandma's house and she had her violin out and told me to play while she got dinner ready. So I did. I played and played and suddenly an hour was past and I needed to eat dinner and rush off to meet a friend. I've kept having this thought that I need to pull my violin out, and today I finally did. My roommate was like, "you have a violin? Why are you not playing that always??" I was self conscious about playing in front of someone when I'm not in practice, which has been part of my hesitation in many of my housing situations, but if I can trust anyone not to be judgmental, it would be Holden. I played until I had to go get ready to teach my yoga class, way past the time my hand was feeling cramped and hurty. It was so nice to play and I hope I can keep up my motivation to practice. Some day I would like to take lessons again, but I would need to practice enough to justify paying the money.
I would love to hear you play! And I'm jealous that you have played since you were eight. We couldn't afford violin lessons or to buy or rent a violin when I was growing up so we (my siblings and I) learned piano because we had one and our Mom knew how. And then we all played in junior high and high school marching band, which was fun. I also come from a musical family and my mom made us practice piano and our other instrument (clarinet for me and my sister, flute and saxophone for another sister and our brother). My dad played the cornet in high school but never played it while we were growing up. Anyway...we are similar in a lot of ways, we both love playing music, writing, and watching Netflix all night (haha). But you have me on the aerial performing. I'm too chicken and too uncoordinated. =)
ReplyDeleteLOVE the photo by the way.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, LOVE the picture. I like how different you are and how you have so many different hobbies. By different i don't mean numbers, i mean the uniqueness part. I think you're way interesting. I kind of want to stare at you.. not in a creepy way lol because i like observing and you're so different. but yeah, i think the violin is beautiful and im happy you're playing again :D
ReplyDeleteI was so inspired by the piece you wrote about getting back on the trapeze, that I picked up my cello for the first time in a year. I know what you mean about not being able to stop. After my hand started cramping I caught myself thinking "I'm going to have to build up my calluses again." Now where have I heard that before...
ReplyDeleteLOL!
:)