Being a musician is hardly a 9 to 5 job. Practicing, gigs,
studies, pr, teaching - usually a musicians life is a creative cocktail
of things to be scheduled. Sometimes, when I'm writing yet another list
of things to do or practicing on yet another Sunday, I really wish I had
chosen the other option: work and free time separated, and someone
giving me clear instructions on what to do and when. Not to mention a
regular income.
How is this related to our opera, you might ask. Well, it
isn't. And still it's the reason why I haven't written for so long.
Writing this blog has been on my to-do list for two months, but life got
in the way. Life and poor time management.
So I find myself thinking about this eternal problem of the
quality of a musicians free time. I miss free time without guilt. You
know this, but I'll spell it out anyway: it's the feeling you get when you're watching TV or meeting friends or having any kind of a good time, really, and at the same time you're haunted by all the repertoire you're not practicing, all the emails you haven't sent - an endless list of unscheduled stuff. And who's doing the dishes, I'd love to know!
For me personally it can at times be hard to let the undone things remain undone. I find myself lying awake at night stressing about everything that I should do instead of snoring peacefully. I really don't think I'm alone in this, either - and that's why you're reading this rant. I'd like to know how do you do it? How do you make your life work, what's your secret? I myself stay sane mainly thanks to lists and an incredibly patient driver/cook/boyfriend, who picks up the pieces when i run out of steam.
But please, tell us your tricks. And I'll add "update blog more often" to my next to-do list.
