Jenius Creations

Category: Caring for yourself

  • You are what you think. Now get ready to change your mind.

    How do you think about yourself as a musician? A harp player? A performer? A person? Do you ever think about how what you think about you impacts the you that is present?

    Are you open and accepting of yourself? How do you talk to yourself? Would you talk to anyone else that way?

    Many of us talk to ourselves in a very negative way. But here are 7 ways to turn that around:

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    1. Make time during your practice to provide constructive feedback
    2. Make kind and gentle feedback comments to yourself in a positive way
    3. Write down your feedback….and read it again later
    4. Record yourself so you can provide more objective inputs at a later time and from a different perspective
    5. When you are not very nice to yourself, stop, correct yourself, and restate your thought in a positive, constructive way – the way you would to another person
    6. Take your time not only observing yourself and the way you think, but also to reconstruct the kernel of the original message in a positive and useful way.
    7. Lather, rinse, repeat!

    You can change your mind by practicing reframing your comments to yourself.  And it will get easier…with practice!

  • Sorry to be late…

    Sorry to be late posting, I am having a bit of an emergency.  Travel, focus, caring, fatigue, etc.  You’ve all had emergencies, so you know.

    I did think to grab my little harp on the way.  I spend so much time teaching and writing and arranging and practicing and blahblahblah, that I sometimes forget that I really enjoy playing my harp.  It not only provides distraction and pleasure, it adds a soothing balm at the end of a hectic day.

    I’m not spending a lot of time with it but, like my good friends, it is there at the end of the day, waiting to provide it’s own form of help.  It assuages my heart and quiets my thoughts.

    Don’t forget why you fell in love with your harp.  And don’t wait for the universe to prompt you to remember.  Go play, and enjoy, and don’t ever let the mundane everyday suck the joy from your relationship with your harp.

  • Basking in the glow

    Summer is a wonderful time.  Not only is the sun shining and the warmth of the days calls us to spend more time in that glorious light, but perhaps more importantly…it’s festival season!

    I am basking in the afterglow of participating in the Somerset Folk Harp Festival in a summer full of enjoying the thrill of the middle of the summer Games and Competitions season, while getting ready for this year’s Harp Camp, and gearing up for the Harp the Highlands and Islands tour for this year*. Picture1

    Summer is just chock-a-block with great opportunities to learn, to play, to meet new friends, to see old friends, and to just enjoy our music!  I hope you have had to occasion to avail yourself of the discovery, the camaraderie, and the pure joy of making music.

    Summer is fleeting though and soon we’ll be in the bitter cold of winter when there are fewer opportunities to get together, time will be spent alone, practicing for Christmas gigs, and the shortened days seem to suck some of the joy from the day.  With the waning daylight we will miss the carefree days of playing through the summer.

    Find your opportunity to join with others, to make music and have fun!

    *there’s still time – if you want to get in on this year’s Harp the Highlands and Islands tour, get more information here or send me an email.

  • Take it slow

    Why are we so impatient with ourselves?  We are always sure that other people are having an easy time of it, but really, we all struggle from time to time – with a technique, with a phrase, with a tune, with reparation for a gig.

    But really – why are we in such a hurry? You might think we’d rather slow down and enjoy the time at our harps, but instead we pressure ourselves.  We can really work ourselves up.  Sometimes we pressure ourselves right out of enjoying playing!

    So, how can you tamp that impatience just a little, and in the process not only learn more and play better but also enjoy your time on the bench more?  Here are 5 things you can do to be more patient, take things more slowly, and likely play better:

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    1. Set a goal.  I know, you’re probably tired of hearing me say that, but it really does help.  Goal setting will allow you to make a schedule (even if it’s notional) and then you can be sure that you have enough time to meet your goal.
    2. Part and parcel to the goal setting is to write it down!  In addition to capturing your goal, you can capture your progress in a journal.  Your journal can be written or audio – the form is not as important as being able to gauge your progress.  In addition, reviewing your journal will help you get through those times when you are only focused on how far you have to go rather than how far you have come.
    3. Be positive – you will get there…how long and how easily is directly related to the time and effort you put into getting there.
    4. Practice patience!  Like everything else, becoming more patient with yourself, allowing yourself to take the time you need to attain your goal, requires practice.  Don’t be disheartened if you slip, don’t give up if things don’t look like they are going well.  Enjoy the journey in anticipation of the destination!
    5. Be kind to yourself.  Talk to yourself as you would a good friend – give yourself encouragement to continue and permission to develop.

    Spend the time you need to become the harper you want to be.  Be patient.  Take it slowly. Do the work…and reap the reward in good time!

  • Time to act

    Its about that time – we’re a little over half way through the year.  That makes it a great time to review how you are progressing toward your goals for this year.  You’ve had plenty of time to forget your resolutions, to have slid off your goals, to need to be gently reminded of where you wanted to go this year.

    Back in January I suggested you do these six things:

    • Write it down
    • Think first
    • Focus
    • Keep your space neat
    • Make a habit
    • Develop a ritual

    So, how are you doing?  If you’re making progress – congratulations!  Keep it up and you’ll have a really productive year.

    If you’ve “fallen off the wagon” you have plenty of time to get back on course.  Review (or actually set) your goals, identify the specific steps to get you there, and then schedule time for yourself to perform those steps.  And within the year, you’ll have done really well and made progress!

  • Relaaaaax


    We all know that we should close our hands when we’re playing.  Teachers make up funny names to help students learn and remember (clam hands, puppy paws, etc.).  We exhort our students to “Close!  Close!  Close!” 
    And many of you know that the point is to allow your hands (and forearms) to relax, to let those muscles rest, ever so briefly.  That musicians are athletes of the small muscles.
    But in the midst of learning something new, we are focused (or possibly stressed), trying to learn the tune, or to master the hard bit, or to get the timing just right.  We are focused on the notes, the passage, the phrase.  And what we’re not focused on…is our hands!  What can you do?  Here are three things to incorporate into your practice to improve your ability to relax while playing:

    1. When you are learning new things is it important to occasionally open your focus – knowing the notes won’t help if they sound terrible, strained or tinny.   
    2. Pay attention to what you are doing.  Just as you need to remember to breathe, remember to check your hands – how is your technique?    
    3. Slow down!  There is no race to learning – you will get the tune, learn the notes, master the passage – so quit trying to compete with everyone else – there is no race!

    Enjoy – playing is enjoyable so don’t stress yourself out – just relax…and play

  • Stretching – just do it!


    I don’t know about you, but I hate thinking about stretching.  Which is silly because stretching usually feels really good.  And yet we, many of us, skip this essential step.   
    We know that when we practice we are working hard.  Nevertheless, we often finish, stand up, and walk away.  But stretching at the end of your practice is a smart thing to do and a good way to finish up.
    Be sure to stretch within your range of motion.  Don’t keep stretching if you feel pain.  Stretch all of you – your neck, back, arms, shoulders, chest, and hands.  But just as importantly, stretch your glutes, your hip flexors, hamstrings, and all the way down to your feet.  Breathe while you’re stretching. 

    You may need some deep breaths because so often when you’re working hard at your harp you are holding your breath.  
    Make time for this – plan it into your practice time just like warm ups and exercises.  Make it a non-negotiable part of your time with your harp.

  • Just bloom


    You know I like to get inspiration wherever it appears…and recently I found this quote (I found it online – who knows who said it) –

    A flower does not think of competing 
    with the flower next to it.   
    It just blooms.
    It’s a good lesson…and one we could all stand to learn and review every day.  We often compare ourselves to other people…and often for no reason, or worse, for the wrong reasons.  Here are four reasons why you should just knock it off…and use that energy for something else – like practicing so you can be a good as you can be!

    1. Often you are wrong – you are not comparing yourself to that other person, but rather to what you think that person is.  You are working on an illusion and there’s no way you can compare to something that doesn’t exist!
    2. You’re missing out. When you are comparing yourself to others, you may be so worried that they’ll find out that you think you’re not as good as they are.  And that’s when you miss out, that you’re not open to learning from them.  Whether they are more experienced than you (or whatever it is that makes you think they are better than you) or just appear more confident – just think about what you could learn from them if you were open to it.
    3. You’re missing out of the fun of playing if you spend all your time and energy worrying.
    4. Eleanor Roosevelt may have said it best, “you wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”

    If you need objective quality evidence – record yourself each year.  At about the same time each year, record what you’ve been working (I like the holidays – you’re likely to be playing the same music each year and then you can really hear you far you have come!).

    The person you can compare yourself to successfully is – you.  Look at how far you have come.

  • I know I should be chipper…

    but good friends have shared bad news and it has accumulated to drag down my heart.

    So I will do those small things that will be soothing – to think on my friends, to wish on them some small measure of comfort, and


    to sit with my harp, playing away any pain. 

    Sometimes you don’t need to practice – sometimes, you just need to play.

  • Greet the day


    I had the extreme good fortune to be a guest at Holy Cross Monastery this week for a harp retreat with old friends and other friends I hadn’t met before.  It is a lovely place in a beautiful location.  The weather was crap.  Gray.  Drizzly.  Misty.  It was perfect!

    Of a morning, I greeted the dawn and was treated to the type of daybreak that only arises from awful weather – a breathtaking, gorgeous, extended crowning of the sun over the earth. 

    The great thing about sunrise is that it can’t be rushed.  No matter how many you see (and I do my best to see as many as possible) each is beautiful in its own way and comes in its own time.  And no matter what you do, they simply are.  All you can do…is breathe…and wait for it…and enjoy.

    Which is good for us to remember – we must sometimes take the time to simply be.  To breathe.  To allow the day to wash over us.  
    This same approach can be brought to your harp and your music.  Don’t rush.  Enjoy the beauty.  Let the music unfold.  Relish that presence.  Practice it.  Until, like placing your fingers, counting, or breathing, it merely comes naturally.  Practice enjoying and not rushing until it comes naturally…and becomes just the way you do it.