We all need something that clears our heads. Something that helps us relax and get those good feelings flowing. Hopefully we’ve got more than one trick that gets us centered. I know I’ve got a couple.
Sometimes a simple hot shower will work. Sometimes all it takes is 30 minutes on my rowing machine. Working up an honest sweat and a little physical exertion is like hitting a stress reset button. Of course, this is usually followed by the earlier mentioned hot shower, so it is like a double dose.
I’d love to say reading a book or playing a video games worked, as those are both things I enjoy, but lately they’ve just served as reminders that there are a lot of things I need to do. Video games remind me my hands aren’t being productive. Reading books is just a blatant reminder that I have editing to do.
And then there is music.
I cannot pretend to be a great musician. Likely not even a good musician. But I am better than I was a year ago, and I hope to be even better a year from now.
But despite skill level, playing music makes my load feel a little little. At any point du I got the day I am likely to feel that my head is being squished between two planks of wood. But when I start strumming and start singing that pressure fades.
It soothes me. It lets me narrow my focus onto just the feeling of the strings and the order of the chords. It’s a response that feels a little like magic.
I’m hoping that this feeling is something I can share with my son. He already seems to have a love of music. He dances and sings. He even does his best to strum. I wonder if he feels that same freedom to create and make mistakes, or whatever the 20 month version of that would be.
So, playing a little bit of music helps clean out the cobwebs that form in me head. Now all I need to do is carve out more time on a regular basis to play.
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Deadly Troubadour 