It's been a while since I picked up one of my spindles, but I started a yarn last Saturday evening knowing that it would be something I could do in the practice room before the recital began. It's a great occupier and helps me deal with nerves when there's little to do but be aware of performance butterflies!
It amounts to 48 yards of 2-ply yarn. Bought the top at Vermont's Sheep & Wool last fall. I think I'm going to keep the spindle within reach for a while. Its therapeutic effect won't be amiss at this time.
Thrill of thrills! A rose-breasted grosbeak has been visiting my bird feeder. I caught a glimpse of him/her last week and spied him again the other day from inside the front doorway. It faces directly upon the feeder, so I quickly dashed off to fetch the camera and managed to catch a few good portraits. So exciting! Years ago I purchased a porcelain figurine of a rose-breasted grosbeak but have never seen one in real life. There is a slight fuzziness to these pictures because they were taken through the screen in the door.
Much rain overnight and today. And hail! I read an absolutely horrible joke today... What's worse than when it's raining cats and dogs? Hailing taxi cabs. Yes, that deserves a great big groan! :)
I love your attitude about performing; it's very healthy! It took me a long time to get over my perfectionist tendencies.
ReplyDeleteThe grosbeak is gorgeous!
Michele, There was an article pinned to the bulletin board at the music school last weekend. It was entitled, "Perfect Strangers: A change in mindset can unlock the potential that your perfectionism is holding back". A good read, and so timely. It appears in the May issue of Strings magazine and is worth a look see if you can find it. From the article:
Delete"In most fields, perfectionism is regarded as maladaptive (aka leading away from propagation of the species, aka not good), but performance psychologists differentiate between high-level athletes’ “perfectionistic concerns” versus “perfectionistic strivings”. Concerns lead to things like crippling performance anxiety and negativity, while strivings make the stress of high expectations fuel for productivity and the “perfection” is measured by improvement. This internal motivation drives athletes and musicians to be better every day while fostering a healthier and more realistic goal- one that is actually possible. "
I'd post the whole article here, but I suspect there would be copyright issues, dontcha know.
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