What to do when work takes you away
I just returned to town from a several-day business trip, and the absence from home, family, and instruments made me think about the many things in life that take us away from our playing obsessions…whether for short time or long. How do we as Part-Time Musicians (PTMs) cope?
Trips like this are a rarity for me, thankfully. Many twelve-hour days in a row, punctuated with a couple of all-nighter work sessions, tend to take their toll! Enough so that I intentionally did not pack a trumpet mouthpiece, finger exerciser (for guitar/bass), or anything else to help me “stay on the instrument” sans instrument. I knew this would be an intense trip, and I wanted to keep a sharp focus. Now that I’m back, there is some ground to make up musically, of course…but so what? It isn’t the end of the world. :-)
Within a few days, I’ll be “back”…and where rough spots remain, I’ll enjoy the effort it will take to polish them. This is one thing that really came home to me during this trip: no matter what life throws at us, no matter what detours come our way, we should enjoy the journey. Life is meant to be lived, not to be stressed. Music is a key part of that enjoyment, and while we should all strive to improve each day, it should be an enjoyable effort, not a burden.
May you all find peace in your playing,
Mark
