As a freelancer, you have moments of stillness... and then moments of utter chaos. This is also true for a musician freelancer, and after a few weeks of calm where I was able spend some nice time with family and the garden and house work... all of a sudden, the month of chaos starts for both my wife and I.
The overarching project for the month is a tour of several weeks... with gaps in it. And in what seemed to be a great idea at the time, my wife and I scheduled a few concerts in the gaps...
... and that isn't too much of a problem, we don't need much time to rehearse and we are able to quickly adapt to each other on stage. However, what I hadn't really factored in... was the fact that I was going to be touring with a Romantic Viola, and that particular viola of mine is a large one that doesn't fit in a double case... and due to the flights, I can only take on instrument case with me.
That means that the other concerts, which are on Classical Violin, Baroque Violin, and d'amore... well... it means that I don't get to practice with the instruments that I'm going to play with! That is a touch annoying, but in the end, it isn't too bad... the instruments and I are used to each other, but it does mean that I don't get to prepare as much as I would like to. Not that I need lots of preparation, but some would be nice... instead of flying in on an evening, and then doing the concert the next day with a short rehearsal (and reacquaintance with the right instrumnet...) just beforehand!
... ah well, this is sort of a self-inflicted problem... I've learnt the lesson, and the next time that I think that this is a good idea, I've asked my wife to slap me in the head. Although, probably we will both forget, and do it repeatedly... after all, this isn't the first time that this has happened!
To make matters worse, as soon as our last "personal" concert is done, I have to immediately join another project where I am supposed to be leading the group... sigh, and the music for that is a real pain in the arse to play!
Probably in the end, I will have to just trust that I can do this... and this is what I've trained and practiced for... but I can't shake the feeling that these coming several weeks are going to a matter of survival... hanging on, not freaking out and just getting stuff done... efficiently and one thing after the other.
... more importantly, even if I screw up in a big way... no-one will die or get critically injured. So, there is some consolation there! Oh, and I can just relax by spending a few minutes each day just writing and trying to gather my thoughts...
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I'm glad you managed to carve out some time for yourself and your family. I live in Italy and by now the cost of living is so high that one is almost forced to work almost all the time
Italy is expensive??!?! I always thought that the Southern European countries were much better for that than the Northern/Western ones...
Actually for those coming from outside Italy it could be as you say. I speak as an Italian, I am a person who in 15 years has lost a lot of purchasing power with a paycheck that has not adjusted correctly for inflation
Ah, yes... of course. I always visited the Southern European countries after being paid in Western Europe. So, it does seems much cheaper... but if you are living and earning there... yes, the inflation and drop in purchasing power is more noticable!
It remembers my months of winter,the snowball average and all my growing days.