I am not sure who this post is written for. I’ve been in both categories of people at different times of my life.
When you start an instrument, you won’t experience those symptoms because they take quite awhile to set in. It’s only after a few months, maybe even a few years of every day playing that, when you stop one day, one single day, you feel bad. That’s the subject of this blog: the habit.
I used to be on my drums 10 to 12 hours per day. Every day. I was in emergency practice, you see, because I needed to catch up with… well, I’m not sure. Maybe I was catching up to a figment of my imagination, really, as I was obsessed about the drummer I could be. It was haunting me. My brain and body were working at 110% to produce more technique, more speed, more crazy exercises. It was exciting, it was marvelous and it was, of course, exhausting. I wonder how I didn’t end up in a straight jacket.
The funny thing was though that when I would stop, even for one day, I would be stressed, anxious and on edge. By the evening, my nerves would be shot. My playing momentum was so great that I couldn’t decompress when I would take a day off.
Now, you might think that I am now preaching moderation and reason, that it is better to measure your effort and not become totally eaten by your passion, whatever it may be. Well, not at all. I loved being obsessed by my playing. I discovered a ton of things about myself and life in the process. I also achieve the impossible: becoming a professional musician (remember, I am not gifted for this art). I am now dedicating a lot of time and effort into a renewed passion for my drums and my piano playing. I love it. I am forming a whole new set of habits. And if I need to pay the price of discomfort when I dare rest for a day, I say it’s a small token compared to the benefits.
