Lockdown with a broken wrist
Two weeks ago, I slid on mud going for a walk and ended up with a broken right wrist. Lockdown suddenly became even more locked down – no driving, no piano, no typing or texting. I had to adapt very fast to the obvious challenges of managing everyday life and have been grateful for technology like a voice dictation, which makes writing emails and newsletters much more manageable. Fortunately, having a broken wrist doesn’t stop me teaching although not being able to demonstrate is a bit frustrating. It just challenges me to express myself better!
Managing emotions
What surfaced in the first 24 hours after breaking my wrist was a torrent of emotions and I noticed that by letting myself express them, safely and without hurting myself or anybody else, I was able to get to a good emotional place relatively fast. It occurred to me that we’re all feeling very challenged at the moment. Musicians are struggling: not being able to work, losing a sense of identity and purpose, missing the joy of making music with colleagues, finding it hard to be motivated in practice. We all have so many feelings swimming around and I think it’s incredibly important to express these feelings in whatever way works for us. It could be through tears, stamping out rage and frustration in a walk or by expressing our grief through music. If we let our feelings safely move and flow, it stops us from putting the lid on them and from numbing out. It gives us space to find more positive feelings.
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