Week 9 - Motivation
A nice short post this week. Not because of laziness (as I talk about below) but because I'm talking about breaks.
We all need to sometimes just take a break...
I never solved a major mechanical or interpretive at the keyboard, only away from it.
- Jorge Bolet, Pianist
Klickstein (2009) categorizes musical breaks into three types for performers:
- Active - Resting your playing muscles but staying engaged with your music.
- Diverting - Getting outside of the practice room and getting your mind off what you are doing.
- Restorative - Resting or doing gentle movements
The past week has mostly consisted of diverting breaks, which at first glance might be seen as lazy, but to me it's been really useful in resting from the stresses human life usually brings (and a masters of course!). After reading the Klichstein, I remembered how useful my Alexander Technique sessions that I had with Debbie before COVID had been. The methods she taught me in those lessons matched up perfectly with restorative breaks.
An example of one of these methods from Alexander Technique is known as Constructive Rest - a way of releasing muscle tension, especially in the neck, shoulders and back. Tension can arise from stressful situations (both physically and mentally) and I found that this was an excellent method of relieving any mentally stressful doubts or thoughts I had over this project or indeed other modules.
It's also an important skill in collaboration to seperate yourself from the group. I experienced this a few weeks ago with turning up slightly late to the meeting - but seperating away from your peers can be a positive way of breathing fresh air into the collaborative process with new ideas and can be a good fix for any challenging relationships that may have arisen over the past weeks. Luckily, we havn't had this issue yet.
My diverting break this week? Going for a much needed catch-up with family up north in Rivington Pike (The picture above). A breath of fresh air and a boost of endorphins with family around was exactly the break I needed to enhance my productivity in the group and my motivation over the next few weeks. Burn-out is a real thing, as I experienced in Semester 1 for the first time in my university studies, so I wanted to be extra cautious to take breaks when my body said so. Now was a better time than ever to do nothing and hopefully my peers would be doing the same too (as we discussed this in our final meeting before the Easter break).