100 Days of Practice Review, My 3 Big Takeaways
This winter I sustained an injury (non-playing related), to my right arm and thought it would be interesting to document #100daysofpractice on Instagram while I got back to playing. I was interested in seeing how long it took for me to get back in “shape” and also how the process would feel. I found the #100daysofpractice to be incredibly rewarding.
There are many ways to go about the challenge, so I set some basic parameters for myself:
I needed to practice as many days as I could out of the 100, if something hurt or I needed a break, I could take a day off.
Content for posts needed to be recorded daily, but I could post in batches. The goal for me was documenting my process, not posting 100 days in a row to Instagram.
Lastly, I would approach my video descriptions/blurbs with honesty and a commitment to my practice journey.
I practiced 96 out of the hundred days. Eighty- seven posts were videos, and thirteen were photographs (which also included my 4 no viola days.) Here are my three big takeaways from the experience.
1. Mindfulness
The biggest take away from my #100daysofpractice, was a shift in mindfulness. My inner practice voice became much more kind, encouraging and helpful. The saying goes “you are your worst critic” and I think that is especially true for performing musicians. In a field that has fiendishly high standards, we are personally responsible for assessing the quality of our work. The daily exercise of writing a note about my practice, that would be shared on a public platform, helped me identify my negative reactions to practice that weren’t serving me well. Instead, I fostered a more compassionate inner voice to articulate my practice experience.
2. Destigmatize Recording
Another benefit from my #100daysofpractice, was that recording myself became normalized. Recording everyday de-stigmatized the process for me. I am not going to say that I enjoy recording myself, or that recording is one of my favorite parts of being a musician, that wouldn't be true. But, I will say that recording is now a part of my creative process, and has become a tool that I am grateful for. I became accustomed to what I sounded like on unflattering equipment (my phone) and began to make better observations about my playing. By recording my practice I also became more committed to the goal of that practice. Is this recording an example of “performing”, working on a particular technique, exploring a specific aspect of a passage? The videos became an accountability meter for my session.
3. People are Kind
The last big take away from my #100daysofpractice, is antithetical to what we generally hear about social media. People were encouraging, or they kept to themselves. I did not start my #100daysofpractice for anyone's validation or compliments. I did however appreciate every encouraging comment, supportive like and sweet message. Coming from an injury and generally pessimistic view of my playing, not only did I learn to be kinder to myself, I learned to appreciate others' kindness.
Now that the #100daysofpractice are over I am back to enjoying private practice without regularly shared recordings. Having completed the process, I am grateful for the experience and am more likely to post future videos. What started as an experiment to document injury recovery allowed me to reframe my practice, my perspective on recording and to see the positive in my peers. In terms of my recovery, I feel great. It was a unique experience to come back to the viola after an extended break. I deleted my practice videos, believing that ultimately practice should be private. #100daysofpractice was a rewarding experience and I would encourage you to give it a try.
A big thanks to everyone who supported me on the #100daysofpractice, the readership of this blog, and my ever-present at home practice audience, Atlas & Duckie.
