Take the time to focus

Everyone is busy.  Everyone is crazy busy.  We all have too much to do.  And before you know it we will have moved from wedding season (crazy busy!) into the holidays (more crazy more busy).

It can be enough to make you crazy and busy.  And that can start to show in your music – phrases that don’t breathe, airs that don’t flow, jigs that jag and reels that leave you reeling!

So be sure to take time to focus. 

This can be done in small measures or large.  From taking the summer off from lessons (definitely a large measure) to taking your harp outside to practice on a pleasant day (smaller measure), these excursions will allow you the time to regain your focus, to remember what you are doing, and why.

It is easy to forget all the elements of being a musician.  We get focused on booking gigs, practicing, cramming tunes for specific events.  Sometimes we can lose the focus on what we are doing, why we are doing it, what it does for our listeners, what it does for us.  We can lose focus on what we enjoy as well as forgetting to keep our repertoire fresh, our attitude positive, and our outlook sunny.

Build in some time to pull your focus back to what is important to you.  Go for a walk, review your work, record yourself and enjoy your hard work, plan a day with your harp somewhere pleasant with no agenda – enjoy again.  And remember what is important to you – and why you’re here.