I feel like I have just experienced re-entry. Re-entry into my normal life, that is.
Two week ago my husband and I were in the midst of our first ever cruise, a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean. Coming home from that, I spent a week with a mysterious ailment that made me very tired. No, it wasn't Covid - I tested four times.
This week was time to reenter my normal life, which includes playing in three community music groups. I went to music school, though I changed careers and became an elementary teacher along the way. But I still play (French) horn seriously. [Horn players and most classical musicians just call it the horn, but since many other things are also called "horn" I like to clarify.] But I didn't play for two weeks while on the cruise and then recovering from whatever it was.
Just like a sport, if you don't play regularly you get out of shape. Your muscles, in this case the muscles in my face, get weaker and you lose your endurance. On a brass instrument you might also temporarily lose your high range, since that takes more muscle. This is a problem since I have a concert to play on Sunday! I went to band rehearsal last night, two hours long, and was exhausted by the end, both physically and mentally.
So this evening I have another rehearsal with a different group, a community orchestra. It's the first rehearsal on this music and there will be longer periods when the horns don't play.
Deep breath. I will get through this.
You will get through this. Although it can be stressful, I have always found that playing music somehow relaxed me. I was an accordion player for years. I haven't picked it up in a long time and I am sure it has dry rot, but I know that I still can read music and find the notes needed to play a song.
ReplyDeleteIt's never too late! I put down my horn for years while raising little children and now I play in three groups, have made new friends, and have new musical challenges all the time.
Delete