Surviving the spring slog For the music student (and faculty) spring semesters are often undermined by stress, sleep depravation, and a feeling of drowning in the vast I Just Can’t Do One More Thing ocean. How to combat that so you’re relatively sane, happy, and productive? 1. Don’t over commit, especially in the last four or five weeks of the semester. Remember that every performance you agree to has rehearsals and requires practice time; every class you add has homework and papers/exams. Do as much as you can—the opportunities you get at school don’t continue in the same abundance after you graduate—but keep in mind what the commitment truly means in terms of actual hours and mental acuity. 2. Use your time well. Your calendar is a great friend, but only if you record your actual commitments. Write in your classes and time to study: block off an hour each day several days before a test or paper due date to work in smaller chunks: the quality of your work and your long-term memory need this. When you schedule concerts write in time for rehearsals. Schedule practice time for lessons and ensembles plus add padding to woodshed the music for the extra concerts you agree to. 3. Save at least one day per month for yourself. Block it off completely. Do it now and don’t schedule over it. Save at least one three-hour block per week for yourself. These are guilt-free times to do as you please to help you retain sanity. Add an extra day off in April if you can. 4. Take a moment every day to remember why you’re doing this in the first place. Deep down, even when you’re exhausted, there is still a wellspring of love for your art. Keep the channel open (thank you, Martha Graham, for that quote). Listen to something you love on your commute or as you fall asleep or as you trudge to upper campus. The world of music is more amazing than your ideas about how amazing it is. 5. Talk to others. Be generous with your spirit, time, attention, presence, support, and energy to yourself and others. Your relationships with friends and colleagues are often the touchstone for how you remember college. Talk with each other about music, about the experiences of listening and performing, about concerts that blew you away. It is easy to fall into the vortex of kvetching when you’re stressed but to lighten it, nourish your passion. 6. Reinvigorate your innate curiosity. If you’re in a class you don’t care for, get curious about what that is really like. Why are you bored? What does boredom feel like? Is it actually apathy? Exhaustion? Can you experiment with ways to finding meaning in what you have to do? Does it relate to playing long tones or scales? Is it possible for something that seems pointless to have significance in a larger context? Have you noticed that you’re suddenly curious about what is going on? 7. Engage with another art form. For a shot of rejuvenation, do something to get your creative juices flowing. Go to the museum on campus and see the bee exhibit “A Better Nectar” (our Chamber Choir recorded the sounds). See a play or go over to Dance and watch what they can do. Some climate changes are good for you. 8. Consider a form of meditation. Think of meditation in a broad context: promoting relaxation, building internal energy, or contemplation. It breaks the routine and lets your mind and body recharge. There are many, many ways to do this: yoga, walking, and working out, as well as sound-based and breath-awareness styles. You can listen to a guided meditation, take a hike, or walk the dog. 10 minutes a day makes a big difference. 9. Take refuge in nature. Your life consists of much more than the practice rooms, classrooms, the library, parking lot, car/bus, and your room. We have the distinct advantage of living near the beach and the mountains. There is a gorgeous Japanese Garden right on campus and El Dorado park has 105 acres of trees, ponds, and a two-mile trail, all about 5 minutes from campus. Go. 10. You’re not studying music, you’re studying you. Do your best. Let that be enough.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 05:42:48 +0000
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