Friday, January 25, 2013

keep calm and banjo on.


Thomas is really getting into the banjo thing. When I'm practicing, he'll walk right up to the banjo and stare at my fingers picking from about an inch away. Then he'll reach up and try to pick along with me. I don't mind though, I love it in fact. This whole taking up the banjo isn't purely for selfish reasons; my kids are the main reason I'm doing it.

For the past year, I've been having some anxiety about something happening to my kids. I don't know what brought it on but I would find myself having daydreams of car crashes, kidnappers, illnesses and more recently, someone shooting up my children's school. I realize all parents fear these things. I'm not neurotic, I truly believe that. But every once in a great while some fear will creep in and take hold and I don't know how to deal. I've spent hours googling the statistics of fatal car crashes and where best to sit on a plane in order to avoid injury in the event the plane slides off the runway. And to be clear, I'm not concerned with myself, I am concerned that my kids will not be able to grow up and experience life. It is conceivable that this anxiety stems from an often stressful childhood of my own, but I don't want to focus on the past rather, I want to refocus my current negative energy into something positive.

And so that brings me to the banjo. It's an instrument I have always wanted to learn and I thought it would be a nice escape for my overactive imagination. It is something my kids can watch me play and hopefully pique their interest in learning an instrument as well. Like I said, Thomas thinks it's cool. Stella, on the other hand, doesn't pay it too much mind. She had a friend over last week and he asked Stella what I was playing. She answered, "She's just playing her banjo." Unimpressed.  Ha ha, typical Stella. Thomas's theme song in life is, Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. Stella's...That Don't Impress Me Much.

Not to dog on Stella though, she really is the best. She does love to sing but her main life interests presently are animals, bugs, plants and home decor. No room for anything else. Thomas will try anything once. He likes to really watch how things work, then try to replicate them. No fear.

Anyway, I had my 3rd lesson last night. It's going really well. I've been working hard on my finger rolls (picking the strings in different patterns), and I can actually read the notes pretty well now. It's just a matter of hitting correct notes in the correct timing. I'll get there, I'm confident about it.