So, I know I haven’t been blogging very much lately because I’ve been wanting to enjoy summer instead of actually sitting in front of my computer.
Well, I think it’s safe to say that I will probably start blogging more often. Because, I am afraid, that summer is over! I know that summer generally is supposed to last until September 21 or 22nd, but in Seattle summer lasts about three weeks.
I’m sad that summer is almost over, seeing as how we only got about five days of it. But, I am actually kind of ready for summer to be over because as the rain starts to come in, I’ll actually have the desire to spend the time inside to do what it is I need to do on the weekends . For instance, I spent most of the day on Saturday and Sunday this week sitting in front of my computer working on the website for my company. We’re going to be launching a new store soon, and a whole new distribution service, and since it was raining outside I figured it was as good as time as any to work on the website.
I’ve also been playing my piano a lot. I forgot how much fun it was to play piano when I didn’t have to play piano, but when I got to choose to play the piano. I’ve been playing a lot of classical music, including Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Claire De Lune by Debussy, and other sonatinas and preludes by Chopin. But the thing that I’ve been enjoying the most, is the maple leaf rag by Scott Joplin.
I know buying a piano with what was, essentially, my retirement fund was a bad idea. Intellectually, I know this to be true. Emotionally, however, I am really glad I bought the piano. It’s hard to explain how important having a piano has become to me in the last couple of weeks, but having it here and available to play whenever I get the urge, has been a really relaxing thing. Even though it requires electricity, it’s one of the few things I do that doesn’t require a computer screen of some kind.
There are just too many screens in my life. I wake up, and the first thing I do is look at my phone. I watch TV while I eat. I sit in front of a computer all day long at work. When I come home, I watch TV again. Then I’ll sit in front of my computer for two or three hours. I spent most of my day in front of the screen of some kind. I spent so much time looking at screens that sometimes I feel like I forget what the real world looks like.
In addition to keeping me away from computer screens, playing the piano is helping me reconnect with skills I forgot I had. And I feel better at playing the piano now than I did when I was playing actively. I seem to be able to pick up new songs more quickly, and much more accurately than I have been able to in the past. My fingers are more agile and I think, more than anything else, in the intervening years between taking piano lessons and now, I’ve learned how to focus and how to practice. Before, I was most interested in getting to the point where I can play the song rather than getting to the point where I can play the song well. This is especially true because I was playing songs I didn’t really enjoy all that much.
Now that I get to pick the songs I play I enjoy it a lot more. When I was young, my mom would have to time to me on the kitchen oven timer for 30 min. every single day for my piano practice. And it was a fight. These days, it’s not uncommon for me to sit down to piano for two or three hours in the course of the day and just play for the fun of it. It’s been very relaxing and very centering. And the best thing is, because I can put in headphones, I can play later at night which is when I play best.
In any case, yes, I will be paying off this piano for many years to come. But, I think it was worth it. Now, whether that justifies spending the money right at this point in my life, I can’t say. But, at least I know longer feel buyer’s remorse over this purchase. And since the sun is gone for what will probably be another 8 1/2 months, I’ll have a lot of extra time to practice playing the piano.
And maybe someday, someone will actually come up here to visit me and we’ll get to hear me play. (I’m talking to you mom and dad).
Side note: I apologize for any grammatical errors or spelling errors in this blog post. There are likely more than usual. I’m testing out the new dictation feature on my computer and thought I’d dictate a blog post to see if it was faster than typing it out. Turns out, it is.
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