What do you do when your feeling blue?

banana

I would really like to read what do you do when your feeling so low and just plain down and out? Besides listening to music, your replies will help me. I thank you for your time. How do you recover from a mean remark or comment that went right through your heart?

banana

For you, what is the most difficult part about playing the piano? And how do you overcome that difficult part?

Whickwithy · Post edited by Whickwithy at 2014-06-08 20:53:50

Gosh! Everything. And, I make it as hard as possible on myself by doing things like never looking at the keyboard and some pretty crazy exercises I made up, like keeing all fingers on the keys while playing a five-note scale with each hand, as well as trills. It's been a painful path, so far, but it is just such a breathtaking experience that works the brain harder than anything I have ever encountered before. Each finger doing its own thing - a lot of classical. Thank god I finally got to the point that I can play some songs rather easily and read new pieces without too much difficulty so it's not just a drudgery any longer. I have been convinced for a long time that, if you want to learn music, learn the piano. No bones about it, it is the instrument. I've tried a few other, am fairly proficient at guitar and it just doesn't compare in the slightest for the pure essence of music and complexitiy of play. I've heard it said that the violin is nearly as difficult and I keep pondering that thought. I don't buy it at all but, lately, I've started seeing how it could be pretty complex if you considering the blow play. Yeah, I still don't buy it. My goal is to be able to sight read just about anything put in front of me. I'm about sixty, so my comments in the PM also apply here very much so.

Ponygurl

Well you can't really avoid toxic people banana..they can invade your space and the best thing I've found is distance. I really want you to remember it's not about "you" it's about "them" and whatever they're going through. Have I told people to fuck right off? Sure. Have I made people feel shitty, like the way they have made me feel? Yes. Has it made me feel better? Maybe for the time being. But it creates a pattern...it solves nothing. It's really tough when someone is a complete ass! ....but here's an insightful quote-

“Hurt people hurt people. We are not being judgmental by separating ourselves from such people. But we should do so with compassion. Compassion is defined as a "keen awareness of the suffering of another coupled with a desire to see it relieved." People hurt others as a result of their own inner strife and pain. Avoid the reactive response of believeing they are bad; they already think so and are acting that way. They aren't bad; they are damaged and they deserve compassion. Note that compassion is an internal process, an understanding of the painful and troubled road trod by another. It is not trying to change or fix that person.”

I know, sounds like some self-help bullshit, but when you really look at it...it rings true. I do have my escapes -music, writing, painting...a way to get the inner..out. Oh, and I read..a fabulous escape. A BIG one, you must CONNECT when you are feeling blue. We are energy. A body at rest tends to stay at rest, a body in motion..you know the rest. You see our emotions are a frequency of energy...and sometimes we need a shift. You must surround yourself with a positive energy!

As for piano, I have a good ear...the rest I make up- you gotta put a little you into it...
;)

iuventus · Post edited by iuventus at 2014-06-09 02:57:07

But it is about 'you,' PoGu. People are only as toxic as those qualities that you perceive in them, behaviors that you attract, or draw, from them. If someone is so hurt and disturbed that they are capable only of destructive behavior, you will only attract them if that is what you believe or need from them. Otherwise, they will, at worst, be passers by in your world. At best, your influence will change their lives for the better.

Ponygurl

True dat...I guess what I'm saying is "don't take it personally." ie., if someone is whacked out on coke and is acting like an evil jackass..well that's them, not me. I am not attracting that, that's their addiction talking. Just an example. Maybe do the best you can to help, but distance yourself from negative emotions. Who needs it- just useless drama.

Whickwithy · Post edited by Whickwithy at 2014-06-08 19:14:25

There's a song, you know. It may seem corny but It works. "Pull myself up by my bootstraps" seems to be the essence of it, really. "Water off a duck's back" is pretty close to the mark, also. Actually, nowadays, playing the piano seems be my best therapy. That or walking - get out of myself. You mentioned in a different thread that weight was a concern. Walking also helps me with that. But, that's a lot of walking. A couple of days last week I hit 20 miles. And, yes, the tunes are quite often on - mostly Chill mixed some rock. An amazing amount of it is Goldfrapp, of course.

iuventus

You ain't never lied!

banana

The words are working. OK now, How do I become less sensitive and lose my shyness??

KatRobin

I've already posted in your other thread Banana, but I've spent 40+ years with some degree of shyness and social phobia! despite appearances ( I mean I ramble on and on here all the time, and I'm a teacher - but that's all An Act, a trained one). Put me in a room of adult strangers and I want to make like a tortoise. I forced myself to overcome my crowd phobia by going to my first Frapp gig at the Apollo last year and I was so smitten by Alison and the brilliance of it all I never had the slightest panicky wobble. Going to Greenwich now in August, where I am v nervous but still hoping to perhaps meet one or two people from this blog. Kill have had a glass or two of wine on the way there!!

KatRobin

I'll have had...!

banana

I sincerely hope that when you attend in August, you will meet other people like you who are gathering to see Goldfrapp

Whickwithy

I found one of the most fascinating things through a life in which I decoupled from life more than once. One is quite defined by the relationships in which one exists. If one steps out of those relationships, it becomes much easier to change who one is. It's like looking in the same distorted mirror every day. One is expected to act and react in a certain way in certain situations with certain people. Once those are gone, the script and the score becomes unwritten. The image one carries around of oneself is so very defined by the daily interactions. Or, as Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit." So very true. So break all the bad habits. It ain't easy but it is essential to growth.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories