Take Care of yourself

Sometimes the only thing between you and success is a glass of water.

Sure, it helps if you are prepared, mentally collected, experienced, and just generally good at what you do, but in the end, the performance, or the rehearsal, happens right here, right now, and you have to do your best no matter the circumstances and no matter your condition. And we all get sick, and we all get tired.

On Sunday, after three morning services and an afternoon going away party for our former pastor, an all-too-brief attempted nap and a dash for food, I faced a four hour choir rehearsal. That can be a tricky thing even when you are well rested and ready to go, but often my performances and rehearsals are lumped together and there isn't much time to recover from one before it is time for another. And when you are running from one place to another with little time for error it is easy to forget that most basic of elements:

water.


Feeling dehydrated, I took a minute to listen to my body, find a water fountain and fill a tall cup twice with water. Made quite a difference, particularly in the first two hours before dinner with 60 people hanging on for dear life through tricky meter changes and quick tempi.

Musicians these days love to blog; love to give advice; love to tell you how to be as successful as they are. The interwebs are full of advice on how to practice, how to be mentally tough, how to get the next gig; here's one you might not read often enough, but it's the result of experience, and this week is just the latest example. Try it, it works! The amazing take-care-of-your-body method. Keep calm and carry on.

But first, make sure you drank enough water.