Switching perspective on things I can't control

How I'm getting the most out of an injury

Soooo this is what’s up:

I managed to cut my thumb extremely deeply right at the side which I use for plucking the string, and now the whole damn thing is inflamed. This is why I haven’t sent the newsletter out yesterday. Touching the side hurts as hell, and while it’s getting slightly better each day, it’ll take some more time for it to properly heal, as new skin needs to form. This gives me the “opportunity” to reflect a bit, I guess, and I thought it would make an interesting topic today.

So this has been going on for 3 days now. Here’s how it went so far:

Day 1

I was in so much pain, I was crying and beating myself up for being so stupid. I felt guilty and I immediately started shaming myself like a good millennial. I was making so much progress in my practice routine, I started tracking and journaling it again and I really felt back on my feet. I was way too cruel to myself that day. I didn’t deserve it.

Day 2

I was trying to come up with ways to still make myself useful. I was making special covers for my thumb, invented all sorts of variations using band-aids, tape, tissues and tinfoil. In the afternoon, I sat down and made this painting:

Because I wasn’t really able to hold anything properly, not even the paintbrush, I decided to paint something minimal and simple. Something that just felt good and freeing, something that helped me calm myself and feel okay. Like these birds.

It felt great! However, it had its price. Within a few hours, I started to feel that my finger was pulsing in pain. I shouldn’t have pushed myself so hard. I should have taken it easy and given it some rest. This is when I realized that my body is desperately trying to tell me something and for the first time in my life, I need to grow the fuck up and listen.

Day 3 (today)

Still inflamed, still in pain. Touching the very side feels horrible, but slightly better than yesterday. I gave this whole day to it to rest and recover, avoided using it as much as I could. I used my left hand for eating too, which was very awkward haha. I try to pretend that my thumb doesn’t even exist right now.

An injured finger for a musician can feel like the end of the world. Annoying, yes. Useless, no.

Today I was thinking how I can use this time away from practice to still stay engaged with music and make some sort of progress, or at least, to stay inspired. And guess what: not being able to physically play guitar made me come back to things I haven’t done for a while. So here are some of the things I already did today, and some I’m going to do in the following days:

1. Active listening: This is a skill I started to lose recently. I realized that over the past 2–3 years, I mostly listen to music while I’m doing something: travelling, cooking, walking, doing chores and such. This is great and makes boring tasks more enjoyable. However, from a musical perspective, this is a passive experience. Today I sat down to listen to music as a main activity. I picked up my best headphones and just sat there. I wasn’t even watching music videos, just audio. I realized how long it had been since I experienced music like this, and I couldn’t believe myself. It felt fantastic, energizing, and I noticed details in music I listen to frequently that I hadn’t before! If nothing else comes out of this whole injury thing, I’m already grateful for getting this experience back.

2. Mental practice and visualization: This is something I used to do a lot at university, but as a working adult, I made less and less time for it. Visualizing how my fingers would move on the fretboard reveals exactly which part I don’t know for sure, because there’s no muscle memory to rely on. I believe we only know a piece well if we can imagine every movement without the instrument too. Mental practice is also wonderful to challenge your existing concepts on interpretation and make musical decisions without the “physical distraction” of playing the guitar.

3. Learn about learning: I always enjoy books and studies about how we learn and improve, especially from a musician perspective. If you have an article in mind, please feel free to recommend it! I don’t think I’ll have enough time to order a book before this finger heals, but articles and blog posts would be great! This evening I’m reading “Deliberate practice in music: Development and psychometric validation of a standardized measurement instrument” by
   Edoardo Passarotto, Franzis Preckel, Michael Schneider and Daniel Müllensiefen.

4. Researching new music: This is obvious, and somewhat part of the first one. I’m looking for new and interesting music for myself and for my students as well.

5. Reflecting: On what I like, what works, where I want to go with my music, what deserves my attention and what’s meaningful to me to pursue as a musician.

The lesson here is that things will throw us off our rhythm and will piss on our plans. We can either be mad about them, or adapt.

We can’t control the things that happen to us, but we can control how we react to them.

There’s a saying about this: when life gives you lemons, you stop feeling sorry for yourself, pull your shit together and figure out how to get the most out of the situation. Or something like that.

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YouTube

I published this cozy and fun little video a few days ago. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. If you have a guitarist buddy, there’s still some time to grab some of these gifts for them, and you can also send this to your loved ones as a wishlist any time.

My favourite things from last week

I’ve come back to gratitude journaling after a long time. I stopped doing this sepcific type of journaling a year ago, and I’m noticing that I miss it. My regular journaling is great and helpful, but writting specifically about what you’re grateful at any day or in your life pulls you in the present like nothing else I think. Here’s the exact journal I use

Right before I cut my finger, I finished a new digital portrait of a girl. I really like this work. I’m so happy with how it turned out:

I also discovered a few lovely, early intermediate pieces which I’d love to share with you.

Have a look at my educational materials, my music or merch!

1. My album is still available on vinyl

2. You can find lots of lovely music on my YouTube channel and on my Spotify

3. Have a look at my shop and see if you find something you like (artworks, T-shirts and more)

4. My free course Before You Start offers beginner friendly lessons on basics like notation reading, guitar positions, common mistakes and many more.

5. Get my Spanish Romance course and learn this iconic piece and some fundamental classical guitar techniques like arpeggio, barree, legato from scratch!

6. My Favourite 11 Exercises is an easy to follow booklet including several exercises suitable for advancing beginners to advanced level players.

Thank you for reading today! Have a wonderful week! 😊

Hugs, Betti