Monthly Archives: December 2020

Harpy New Year

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Why, no, that joke never gets old.  I’m happy to say “harpy birthday” too!

Well, 2020 is in the rear-view and we can confidently move onto a new, hopefully different and better, year in 2021.  Here’s to hoping we have an excellent year full of laughter, life, and music!

I hope you will take a little time to review the year past and find the good things that happened – even if they are small or very far apart.  Be realistic, not overly critical, with your attention trained on your positive steps.  May I suggest that you look back and reflect positively on all that has occurred.  

So, I say to you:

Harpy New Year!

Merry Christmas

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Happy Holidays to you and yours!   I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that you get to enjoy sharing music with those around you (or in Zoom distance!).  Those who receive your gift of music will be delighted…and there’s no need for a return policy!

This has been a “different” year for all of us – good and bad.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten to learn a lot.  As part of that – please join me and Donna Bennett performing as Gallus – our Solstice mini-concert is here!  This was our opportunity to share music with you – Harpy Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Change the things you can and Accept the things you cannot

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I really enjoy hearing from you.  Throughout the year you have reached out and shared your thoughts, your successes, your challenges, and I am so incredibly grateful that you do.

And you’ve had some doozies this year!

Broken bones and broken harps.  Sadness and loneliness as we spent the year Together Apart.  Concern that this will never end.  Tunes that refused to go into your head.  Wayward left hands that just would not cooperate.  Concern about not being able to share music with others.  Fatigue with playing.  Frustration at not making the progress you expected (or demanded of yourself).  Nervousness as gigs dried up and audiences didn’t materialize.  Fear that an injury might mean you’ll never play again.  Anxiety that your absent motivation is going to close a chapter in your life.

Yikes.

Change what you can

Change what you can, Accept what you can’t

And yet, through it all, our harps have stood at the ready (well, with the exception of the broken harp…).  Your harp can be a source of succor in an otherwise blech year – if you allow it to be.  And if you allow it to serve that role where and when you need it.  It’s a time to change the things you can and accept the things you cannot.

You cannot change your healing and recovery rate.  You cannot modify how long we are shut down, separated, enduring viruses.  These are things that you must accept.

But if you’re not very motivated to spend time at your harp, you might just need a change.  Who knows why you’re not playing or practicing?  Well, it’s likely that you do!

Sometimes you need to knuckle down and just do it.  This often feels like a nagging need that you feel rubbing you the wrong way.  Perhaps you can just push along with your harp to get past this.  Identify why you’re feeling that you don’t want to play and tease it out.  If you’re stressed and overwhelmed, or just a little discouraged, you can reset your frame.  Make a coffee date with your harp.  Rather than thinking about practicing, just promise yourself that you’ll only sit for 3 minutes and you’ll spend that time noodling.  If you need to make this completely stress free, just play pentatonic notes (set your harp to Cmaj and play only the white strings).  This is pretty easy because anything you play will sound like music.  Whatever you do, don’t force it – if getting to 3 minutes is hard, get up and walk away.  If it is relatively easy (by which I mean – if you are surprised 3 minutes went by so fast) then keep playing.  This is really just an opportunity to reconnect with your harp (and yourself).  Don’t practice, don’t work, just relax into your harp, and enjoy.   And maybe you’ll look forward to another coffee date with your harp.  Or maybe lunch?  Just go with it and see what happens. 

Or maybe your motivation is low because you haven’t really set any new goals and you are floundering.  This might be the easiest to fix!  Schedule yourself for lessons or coaching with someone who will help you define or refine your goals and help you set a path there.  Need a teacher or coach?    

More difficult are the times when you have to acknowledge that you need a break.  That you are deliberately avoiding your harp.  That you are in difficulties with your relationship.  There are loads of reasons you might need a break.  You could have set rigid expectations that you have not met.  You might be at a place in your life when you do not have the time to dedicate to this craft.  You may have become bored with the instrument, the music, the process, the activity.  You may have come to realize that you like saying you play the harp, but the reality of playing isn’t as appealing.  It can be hard to walk away – after all you’ve invested a lot of time and money.  The harp world is a delightful and comfortable place and you probably have made loads of friends as well.  So, departing could be hard, but there is no shame in finding that you just don’t want to be there anymore.

I really hope you’re not finding that you are having difficulty getting to your harp!  But, if you are, no matter which of these you might fit, the important thing is that you identify what the challenge is.   Then you can begin to move forward.  And it’s not too soon – the coming New Year is a good opportunity to reflect, define what you must accept and change what you can.

Are you a little stuck?  How is that manifesting in your harp life?  Let me know in the comments.  Need help?  Let me know – coaching can help you get where you’re going (or at least back on the path).

Keep Moving

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In what has been an interesting year (yes, that’s the most charitable word I can think of to describe 2020), winter has begun with a roar (literally – high winds and damaging gusts in my area, 6 inches of snow for some of you).  It’s enough to challenge one’s sanity!

But we are stronger than that and we will push through all this.  Thankfully, we have our harps to help us get through just about anything!  But we do need to keep moving to help us continue to grow – and I think that many of you have been doing that throughout the year.  We keep moving on our repertoire.  We keep moving to find new ways to gather and be a community.  We keep moving to help each other out as we have seen opportunities to share first vanish and then move to new virtual ways of connecting. 

But are we moving enough?  I know you keep moving while playing – but are you actually moving?  There are a few ways of moving that are fairly essential to your continued playing and your overall wellbeing.

Go for a walk – outside.  I did mention I meant to literally move!  There are a number of reasons to go for a walk.  Getting some sunlight is good (and necessary) for your health.  Getting some fresh air might just save your life (Dr. Fauci tells us now).  And a little bit of light aerobic exercise helps keep you healthy.  If you prefer, don’t see talking a walk as a fitness challenge but rather an opportunity to spend a little quiet time to clear your mind and reconnect with yourself.  And don’t let the winter deter you – this doesn’t have to be a trek, just a short stroll will have the desired effect.

Take a little exercise.  Ok, now I’m talking about a little more strenuous than the walk!  No matter your age, a little bit of exercise helps keep you supple.  You don’t have to be a gym rat or the next Arnold Schwarzenegger either – just find an appropriate workout plan online.  There are loads that can be perfect for you – search by your age, or current level of fitness, or interest (for instance – don’t have any equipment, find a workout that doesn’t require any like basic calisthenics…those are still around and are still good for you).  The point is that having a little more movement in your day will help you keep moving.  You will be less stiff and sore, and this can be a perpetual part of your day – the longer you exercise a little each day, the better you will feel every day. And feeling better sure makes playing easier!

Don’t plant on the bench.  I find this particularly difficult!  When you’re playing and having a great time (as we do!), or even practicing and working intently on getting some new piece worked up, it’s easy to be so focused that you inadvertently spend too much time sitting on the bench.  You might recall that typically the appropriate seat for playing is not really designed for long term sitting.  Most are flat and not particularly cushioned.  So be sure to schedule stretch breaks and plan to get up from the bench to move a little throughout your practice.  You don’t have to take a long break to keep moving!  Take a short walk, climb the stairs, stretch, do something to move.  Then you can go back to your practicing a bit refreshed.  If you find you don’t notice the passage of time, use a kitchen timer to act as an alarm clock.

Feel the rhythm of the beat. Ever since my first harp workshop where I learned about eurythmics, I have been a fan!  If you’re not familiar with this (or if this word only makes you think of a most excellent Scottish band from the 1980s) eurythmics is the practice of using body movement to reflect music.  It can be expressive (as in dance) but here I mean using your body to represent the music you’re playing.  If you’ve ever clapped a rhythm, you’ve done eurythmics!  If you’re one of my students, you have likely lived through clapping and walking and a bunch of other body movements to really feel the rhythm and the beat.  I love this approach not only because it gets you moving but it also allows you to learn your music in other modes that you normally sit on (in this case actually!).

Reach out and touch someone.  Ok, this might be figurative in the time of COVID, but there’s no reason not to reach out to others.  When we can, we can literally reach out to play with our friends, but even now, be sure to reach out to others to play, share, teach, and learn. 

How do you keep moving?  I’m sure you have other ideas to share – let me know if the comments!