Rachel Taylor Geier

Greetings and welcome to a new Flute Friday! Some of you may have noticed that I vanished from the internet for the past several weeks. The holiday chaos and a nasty cough (that lasted over a month!) forced me to take a step back and focus on healing and reflection. My own body begged me to take a break! I had indeed been doing too much in the last half of 2023 and reached a breaking point. Normally during the first couple of weeks in January, I, like many, create an impressively long list of New Years Resolutions, both in my flute and personal lives. And then I roll up my sleeves and get to work! True, by the end of the month my momentum slows down, but I have typically made enough great progress to reward myself with a pause before finding new February motivation. This year has been completely different and has forced a change of plans. I compiled my lists, yes, but have instead used January to prioritize health, rest, relaxation, and regrouping. This made me wonder if a similar approach would help other flutists trying to be too many things for too many people. In today’s blog, I want to reinvent New Year’s Flute Resolutions for the busy, burned out flutists out there. Instead of trying to do all the things, let’s let 2024 start in February with new goals that encourage us to be our best selves from a new position of healing.

Reimagined Resolution Idea #1 – Take more breaks! How many of us put a practice timer on for an hour or so but then find ourselves blasting way past the incessant beeping of the alarm? One more movement. One more excerpt. Just going to run the tricky bits again. Sound familiar? And what typically happens on the other side of that? You’ve got it – frustration, irritation, impatience, and a mountain of stress. That can’t be good for anyone! Instead of inviting those negative emotions into our practice room this year, let’s instead take well-deserved breaks away from our instrument and, dare I say it, practice less. Set real practice timers. Recruit a family member to drag you away from your flute for a Starbucks run. Ask your best friend or another trusted flute friend to call you at a certain time and demand that you chill out. Prioritize your practice routines so you concentrate on ironing out the tricky parts that need your attention or focus on improving one thing by the end of each routine. Nothing else (unless your heart demands it).

Reimagined Resolution Idea #2 – Perform less and only for groups or events that you truly enjoy. So many times we find ourselves saying yes to gigs either because a well-meaning colleague or conductor asks us in desperation. “We need you. Only you can play this part. Here’s how we can make this work!” The pressure to fill seats or do something nice for others sometimes adds playing commitments to our lives that only cause stress and annoyance. We are trying to make names for ourselves as performers but taking all of gigs (whether we are paid for them or not), just burns us out in the process. Or worse – we end up resenting the amount of time, effort, and cost we put into performances that underuse our abilities or ones that we simply dread. If you find yourself slogging through such rehearsals and are honestly not having a good time, give them the boot! Instead, be more selective about the opportunities you say “yes” to. Do you really mean that yes? Do you accept the good, bad, and/or ugly that will come with your engagement in this group? Are you excited to invite family and friends to your performance? If not, spend less time feeling guilty and just say “next”!  You are allowed to create the performance schedule you want for your flute career. You make the rules!

Reimagined Resolution Idea #3 – Use affirmations in your flute playing life (and help other flutists use them too). How many times do you hear your inner critic shouting at out that you are not good enough? You’re out of tune, therefore you must be a crappy piccolo player. Or, you messed up this phrase at your recital, you must not be qualified to be a flute player. Lies. Fibs. Distortions. Generalizations. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves how awesome we are when we are felling down about our flute playing. Remember that feelings are not facts. You are likely an awesomesauce flute player that is human. Instead of dwelling on your mistakes, I encourage all of us in 2024 to stick to using daily affirmations that lift us up rather than take us down. On my computer I have a beautiful pink marbled background with the words, “You got this!” in bold yellow letters positioned dead center on the screen. This is my daily reminder that no matter how crappy I may feel or how nervous or intimidated I am, I’ve got this. I sometimes even take it to the next level and write “You got this!” 5-10 times in my personal journal. If i am deep in my own stage fright distortions, I will also create a soundtrack of my own voice saying, “You’ve got this! You are a great flute player. You have proven this time and time again. Just play and enjoy the process. You don’t have to be perfect,” and listen to the audio clip on a loop. I would love for all of you reading this to follow these tips and embrace positive affirmations in your flute playing world. Indeed, you got this!

Reimagined Resolution Idea #4 –  Play concerts at home for your pets. This goes hand in hand with the warm fuzzies you will get from affirmations. Who do you care about most in this world? It could be your mom, or a spouse, or a sibling, or an important friend. For me, my bulldog Meatloaf means more to me than anyone or anything in this world. Whenever I practice in my studio space, you can find Mr. Meatloaf at my feet. Before I performed my recital this past September, there were several evenings that I performed the entire program for my pup while he slept peacefully in his dog bed. These home concerts brought me far more joy and fulfillment than the live performance (and helped me face-down my shortcomings in an easy, safe way). Your pets will love you no matter what. They don’t care if you are out of tune or played a wrong note. Share your gifts with these souls because their love of you and your playing may be a great inspiration in your flute life.

And finally,

Reimagine Resolution Idea #5 – Cancel the haters. We’ve all likely been there. We are crushing it. Our flute playing is firing on all cylinders. Our various social media outlets are lit. Our playing, our niche, our students, our flute playing voice is shining a beautiful spotlight into our soul. And then we notice the jealous haters. They may find small imperfections in your playing that they feel entitled to bring to your attention. Micromanagers, perhaps. Negative presences?  Absolutely! They usually want to bring you down a few pegs, sometimes out of spite but more likely out of their own insecurities. Instead of giving them the space to do that, or becoming offended by their attitudes, in 2024 simply ignore them. Or, twist their statements into something positive, “Thank you for your notes. You are such a good teacher. I prefer to approach it my way but I will definitely consider a different perspective.” This is the best way to disarm a hater. Haters sometimes echo our inner critics and block us from being the best darn flutists we can be. They want us to feel bad. They want us to fail. Don’t give them that power. Instead, live your very best flute life without apology. You deserve to enjoy your successes.

***

What are your 2024 Flute Playing Resolutions? Is it possible to wait until February to act on them and give yourself a break for the next couple of weeks? How are you restructuring your flute playing life in 2024 to bring in more peace, rest, and harmony? Please comment below!

Happy Fluting! And happy 2024!