Drum Joy: Music Lessons with Ted Warren

Big thanks to Frankie Peiffer paris_move for the extensive and inciteful review of Drum Stories

This coming Tùesday......

Some stills from my performance on CFRU Live! this past Friday. I love radio so much! Thanks to Roberto Verì and everyone at the station for their help and support. If you'd like to check out the show look for it in youtube under CFRU- Ted Warren

WARNING: LONG POST
can only speak for myself but I've found I've had to change my relationship with social media as time has gone on. I'm writing this in hopes that it might help people that have gone through similar things. For people doing any sort of public facing work such as the arts, social media is the way we tend to promote and get the public interested in what we're doing. The problem tends to be when we're NOT doing much and we see our peers posting about recordings, groovy tours of exotic places etc. I often found myself comparing myself to others and having my mental health suffer as a result. I will also add that there are many "educators" online who prey on this very insecurity in order to sell us whatever miracle cure that will solve our "sucking" and make us more popular than anyone else…(I have posted on this more in depth on Instagram, for those that are interested)
So, what to do? It became evident some time ago that I (and those closest to me) couldn't live this way anymore. Just this past month I realized I had ZERO engagements booked but, lo and behold, I didn't find myself in the mental trough that I previously would fall into. I'm posting some things below that helped me stay okay and even enjoy myself.
1. Realize that at a certain point, how much we work or not doesn't have anything to do with the value of our output.
There are millions of reasons why people get hired, at lot of them not necessarily about the quality of their work.
2. Use downtime for research and development.
This is a great time to practice, write etc….
3. Use these slow periods as a way to create new work in the future.
When we aren't busy, it's a great time to look for grants, contact venues, plot and scheme etc…
4. Do whatever you need to to stay okay.
This includes rest, proper diet, exercise, visiting friends and loved ones, meditation, staying away from social media etc…..
5. See yourself outside the work.
This is a super important one for me. During the COVID lockdown I had the realization that being a musician is just one of many things I am. I am also a father, friend, husband, son, Canadian, Pieces-left handed Canadian as well as many other things AND that there may be a time when I can't physically play anymore but there will still be these other roles in my life to enjoy.
In closing, I think it's important to remember that the online world is virtual, and never tells us the whole story of what's going on, for ourselves or anyone else.
Pardon me, I'm now going to go read a book I'm very excited to start. 🙂