The Art of the Blank Space, And What Eleanor Roosevelt Says

Throughout our musical lives, we come across various kinds of Blank Spaces in our calendars.  They can feel like a blessing or a curse depending on the situation.  For students there is the oft-longed-for Summer Vacation.  For recent graduates and hopeful freelancers there is an integration period into the scene that can feel frighteningly uncertain.  For current freelancers, there are the natural lulls that are just part of the cycle of the musical year and of a freelance career.  For orchestral musicians there are the weeks of vacation that are often used for deep rest and renewal, or for the pursuit of personal projects, or for catching up on family life and things around the house.  Then there are the “enforced” periods of time away from playing due to injury or to being very busy with something else – like caring for someone else – perhaps a baby, or an elderly parent, or a sick spouse.

Depending on where you are in your life and what you have coming up, each type of Blank Space feels very different from the others and requires different approaches.  But I think there is at least one common thread that runs through all of them  – summed up beautifully for me by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my heros.  I find her energy, sense of adventure, and insatiable desire to learn and experience all that life has to offer so compelling and the courage with which she faced her insecurities inspiring.  I tore through the two-volume biography of her by Blanche Wiesen Cook several years ago, I’ve read a collection that contains much of her daily column entries, and there’s this one book by Mrs. Roosevelt herself called You Learn By Living.  I treasure this book and think that it should be required reading for everyone!

One of the many wise things she said is: “Nothing alive can stand still, it goes forward or back.  Life is interesting only as long as it is a process of growth; or, to put it another way, we can grow only as long as we are interested.”

What wise words to keep in mind as we approach the Blank Spaces in our calendars!  No matter what, we want to be moving forward – in some way.  Of course, sometimes taking a step back is part of taking the next steps forward.  We all need time and space to rest, to be refreshed, to reflect, and to explore.  Then there are those times when we just must pay attention to something or someone else and are forced to be away from our normal structure for a while.  I think it can all be used as a way of moving forward, staying fresh, and staying interested, bringing ever-new perspectives to our life and our life’s work.

In the case of all types of Blank Spaces, it can be helpful to define what it is you are seeking from your time off –  and the ways in which you are seeking it.  Not that your Blank Space has to be fully structured – it can be quite free.  But even if your aim is deep relaxation and renewal, it sometimes happens that the end of the vacation arrives and you can feel like you still need a vacation if you haven’t defined ways in which you are going to make sure you get that rest and rejuvenation.

Let’s start at the beginning chronologically – in the student years. I believe summer vacation for serious students is the absolute best time to practice – and to practice well!  This is the perfect time to take advantage of the absence of school obligations to dig in for a couple hours a day and establish great habits, learn new repertoire, and read through things for fun.  You can rest assured that the kids who will be at the top of their field in a generation are doing this kind of work now.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for fun or rest.  On the contrary, there is plenty of time for play, and a true vacation is great. But through the course of a normal summer, while not in intense vacation mode, if a general (though flexible) kind of routine can be established to incorporate an hour or two (or whatever the level calls for) of good deep practice, you can make amazing progress in the summer and be that much more ready to meet the upcoming challenges of auditions for the youth orchestra, or for next summer’s festival of choice, or to move up a chair in band at school.

Later, Blank Spaces can be a little more challenging to navigate – for instance, the start of a freelance career can be especially daunting, and the lulls that happen in the course of an already-busy freelancer’s life can be unsettling as well.  These times call for discipline in practicing and emotional stamina!  You never know when you will be called, and you need to be in shape and ready to go.  This is a good time to just plan on getting up every morning at a decent, regular hour, get yourself in a good place on the horn, and take the rest of the day as it comes.  Don’t be averse to doing free work during this time period!  That might be a controversial point for some, but I think the most essential thing is to get out there, meeting people, playing with people, no matter what the compensation is.  Have chamber music parties, form a woodwind or brass quintet for fun.  You just never know where things might lead.  It might only lead to other ideas and not work – but everything you do outside your own bubble has the potential to spark something new in your life, and during these times, you just can’t afford to sit at home. If you do that, you’re nearly guaranteed that your skills will atrophy, and your world will not get any larger.

And when a REAL vacation is called for – book it!   I think it’s great to take a week off a year, (especially if you’ve been playing heavily in a professional setting all year long) let the chops and mind rest and renew themselves.  Then you get to sweep out the cobwebs and start anew.  Getting back in shape for the upcoming events you have can be very interesting – just make sure you have the time to get back in shape slowly and well.  There’s nothing more awful than jumping suddenly back in, which can stress the body, and consequently, the mind and emotions, and then the confidence.  It can be a rough ride.  Getting back into shape is a great time to focus on re-establishing good habits, making sure no weird quirks or bad habits have crept in to your playing, and just start afresh.  If you abandon your notions of what you’re supposed to sound like and work slowly, you can feel and hear in a fuller way during this period right after taking some time off, and it can put you in a good place for another year of playing.

The “enforced” time away from the horn, I have to say, I have yet to experience.  I will have to write about it another time.  And perhaps my more experienced readers who have had injuries, or who have taken time off to care for someone or do something else completely, can write in and tell me how they manage these kinds of leaves of absence from the horn, or more specifically, how they manage coming back from extended leaves from playing!

For students with time off coming up – rest well, work well, and play well!  Remember to define how you hope to feel coming out of your vacation and what you need from your down-time.

For those with no time off in the foreseeable future, we can once again go to Eleanor Roosevelt who lived about as busy a life as is possible.  She says:  “I have learned to get [relaxation] as I go along, to sleep in a plane, or even to catch a five-minute cat-nap in my chair while waiting for someone.  If the capacity for relaxation is there, if you can attain the ability to create your own inner calm, you can get your relaxation as you go along, no matter how active you may be.”

I still think there’s something about a vacation though….