Well, today I had my first banjo delivered! The culmination of equal parts impulsive whimsy and about a decade of idle longing. I got thrown a bit of cash for my birthday this month and decided NOT to joylessly channel it into bills and groceries, but instead treat myself for surviving the last five months intact. Hopefully it will also help me survive the approaching winter intact too as life becomes even more indoor.
One thing that’s been difficult about this illness is being constantly aware of all the things I can’t do as well as I used to, and feeling less capable and less autonomous - less full, and less whole - as a result. I thought the best way to counter that was to take up something entirely new, that gives my body and brain a whole new kind of functionality bit by bit that will long outlive the illness. Judging by how I “learned” the guitar twenty years ago I don’t imagine my technique will ever be worth anything (I still couldn’t tell you what the chords are called, because who currs!), but that frees me up to mess around and make sounds that feel good. Something with no time limits, deadlines, measures of success, only the satisfaction of learning something for its own sake, at my own pace, that might have my body and brain figuring out how to work together in a little more harmony again.
Reading this was an utter delight! Ironically, the banjo I've been borrowing from a neighbor for several years now was just reclaimed a few weeks ago. (He's finally ready to start learning it himself.) I felt really sad about that at first but then picked up the ukelele that's been sitting in my corner waiting for me to learn to play it. There's a magic to learning a new instrument, isn't there? Like you say, it's "learning something for its own sake," which is definitely a form of play! I'm excited for you and all fun, learning, play, and harmony ahead!
Well, today I had my first banjo delivered! The culmination of equal parts impulsive whimsy and about a decade of idle longing. I got thrown a bit of cash for my birthday this month and decided NOT to joylessly channel it into bills and groceries, but instead treat myself for surviving the last five months intact. Hopefully it will also help me survive the approaching winter intact too as life becomes even more indoor.
One thing that’s been difficult about this illness is being constantly aware of all the things I can’t do as well as I used to, and feeling less capable and less autonomous - less full, and less whole - as a result. I thought the best way to counter that was to take up something entirely new, that gives my body and brain a whole new kind of functionality bit by bit that will long outlive the illness. Judging by how I “learned” the guitar twenty years ago I don’t imagine my technique will ever be worth anything (I still couldn’t tell you what the chords are called, because who currs!), but that frees me up to mess around and make sounds that feel good. Something with no time limits, deadlines, measures of success, only the satisfaction of learning something for its own sake, at my own pace, that might have my body and brain figuring out how to work together in a little more harmony again.
I really liked Courtney G's comic!
Reading this was an utter delight! Ironically, the banjo I've been borrowing from a neighbor for several years now was just reclaimed a few weeks ago. (He's finally ready to start learning it himself.) I felt really sad about that at first but then picked up the ukelele that's been sitting in my corner waiting for me to learn to play it. There's a magic to learning a new instrument, isn't there? Like you say, it's "learning something for its own sake," which is definitely a form of play! I'm excited for you and all fun, learning, play, and harmony ahead!