May...already?!

Ever feel like time is just moving too fast, or that there is simply too little of it to be had? ME TOO! I'm having a really hard time accepting that it's May, and that summer will be here in just over a month! As a self-employed small business owner/professional musician, I know there are TONS of my peers out there who feel the same, and we all wish we had more time--both to reach our goals for work (yes, music is still the ultimate in fun, but it's a job now!), and to have some semblance of a normal life & time for self-care! Since time isn't slowing down at all and that the list of things to tend to continues to grow, I've found that the best way to slow things down a bit is in practicing mindfulness and changing the perception of time. I've found a few cool articles on this subject specifically for musicians : “The Mindful Musician” — Mindfulness Training for Better Recordings and Performances by Blake Madden, and Head first: mindfulness and music by Rolf Hind. There's even a website dedicated to this, The Mindful Musician! If you've never tried mindfulness practice as a way to slow down, or are simply looking to learn more about it, I highly recommend both of these articles and the website! If this is something you already do on a regular basis, please let me know how it's working out for you--and if you've found anything that works particularly well for you! I'm hoping to feel the next few months passing by much more slowly than the last few, and I could use all the help that I can get! Part of what's got me so busy is prepping for the next season of Creative Music Performance--which is a lot of work, but also incredibly exciting!! There will be much more on CMP next month, but if you haven't heard of it before, in short, it's a music empowerment program for youth that I started last year. In this unique summer camp for rising 9th through 12th graders, students get to learn ways to make the most of being in a band, write original music, learn cover songs, record & promote an EP, build a brand, and have an album release show--all in the span of two weeks! If you know someone who is interested, please head over to the CMP website to learn more and apply for the June 11th-June 23rd session! I'm also in the process of upgrading the home studio, and starting a new, weekly social media event called #GearFeatureFriday! Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see & learn about the latest additions to our humble studio, and to see a different piece of gear featured every Friday! Lastly, on top of keeping the wheels of the business turning while trying to become more efficient, I'm hoping to FINALLY reach my goal of taking half a dozen song ideas and getting them at least to the stage of "rough demo..." check back next month to see I've been able to prioritize creative time enough to make this happen...there just might be a new band (or even bands?!) in the making!! Have I mentioned that it feels like there's just not enough time?! I mean, I have all the time in the universe...!