Dear Friends,
These past few months have brought a lot of challenges to Daniella-land, but I realize that at the root of all of these challenges, the main objective has been deciding what I want for myself and pursuing those desires.
I was accepted to both the competition in Germany and the course in Austria, but after reassessing my options, I decided to just go to the competition. So I spent the last month finishing learning my 30 pieces and now I am polishing them. I have a small concert this Monday and another at the end of May, so by the time I go, everything will have been performed at least once. My sister is coming with me as my pianist, so now I have rented a piano so that we will be able to practice here before we go to Germany.
The whole process has helped me see just how much I can accomplish when I have a clear goal in mind and manage my time well. And take regular practice breaks!!! I read this wonderful article about practice/performance-related injury and in it, they talked about this outdated school of thought that musicians (particularly instrumentalists) should practice for hours on end. This, combined with a "no pain, no gain" mentality is so harmful - not only can it cause physical injury, but emotionally and mentally, it makes people believe that they are somehow "not good" if they cannot endure for hours and hours of practice. I wonder just how many people have given up music because of this sort of abusive practice regime. I used to suffer from such a belief - I thought that I simply wasn't strong enough because my voice would become tired and hoarse after practicing. I never stopped to think that it was what I was singing and the way that I was singing which was harmful. Now that I have healthy technique, I feel like I could sing all day.
The other thing I learned from this article is the fact that the adult brain can only focus for 15 minutes at a time, after which, it needs a 5-minute break. The longer the amount of time you spend concentrating, the longer your break needs to be. I have been employing this tactic during my practice sessions and the time flies by so quickly. In fact, I think my brain starts working more efficiently during my allotted 15 minutes because I have a clear idea of when I will stop practicing. It also cuts down on letting myself become distracted. Our brains need breaks, that's why we become distracted! When we become distracted, our brains are trying to signal to us that they want to think about something else for just a bit, and then they'll be able to focus on the task at hand again.
Brains aside, what I really wanted to write about today was my friend Mitch, who passed away this time last year. Mitch's death, although not unexpected, has been really difficult for me to process, not just because of the distance, but because he had such a huge impact on my life. In him, I had found a pillar of support and encouragement, somebody who shared my twisted sense of humor, and somebody who I didn't need to answer to. He had an amazing ability to see people as they were without placing judgment on them. It is something that I wish I could do more often. He taught me so much about love and trust simply by letting me be myself and listening to me with an open heart. I really miss him and even though this past year has sometimes been incredibly painful, I try to remember everything that he taught me and to know that this pain is because he touched my life in such a profound way.
So my wish for the rest of this year is to keep on deciding what I want for myself and to allow people to share in my joy and pain and love.
I wish you a beautiful month of May in your world.
Much love and peace,
Daniella
