Flush It Friday
You did it. You lasted another week. Perhaps you slaughtered foes or fell mighty beasts in a blaze of accomplishment. Perhaps you stealthily sneaked unsuspected through all seven days of sinister snares, nimbly avoiding where lesser heroes fell. Now look back with your head held high in glory, and find all the reasons to whine about it.
Welcome once again, weary travelers, to flush it Friday. We get out the bad, make fun of the ugly, and boost ourselves up with the good. Maybe you got through your week like one of the above descriptions, or maybe it was like mine, where you woke up this morning and thought “Huh, another week has already crushed my soul a just little bit more.” I’m a band teacher for high school and middle school, and the fall season means marching band. Excuse me, the fall season means MARCHING BAAAAAAAAAND!! There is nothing else, only band. My typical day is leaving my house at 6:25 AM and getting home at 9:00 PM (I know W. feels me on this). Last Saturday I left my house a little before 8:00 AM and got home at 2:30 AM on Sunday, and this Saturday will be even worse. And when I’m teaching in these various settings, there is always way more to worry about than we have time for (fundraisers, parents, contest logistics, purchase orders, etc.). Not to mention the fact that this is all revolving around the students, and the laws of nature tells us that dealings with adolescent humans will always follow the least predicted path. One of my students recently got diagnosed with major depressive disorder and I’m constantly in communication with the counselors dealing with self-harming issues, one of my students got a phone call in the middle of class informing her that her mother died, two of my beginning flute players need a lot of extra help after school every day, my students in the high school won’t learn the awesome music I spent months writing for the marching band so it has to be rewritten/relearned, and the list I can’t even remember anymore goes on and on. I love my job, but man, it wears on me. I don’t get to spend as much time with Lady Stockhausen, let alone with you lovely people.
The Bad: Really what it boils down to is this: being an adult can suck, and we all have to suck it up. So maybe it’s not about all that bad stuff, but the real issue is keeping a bigger perspective in mind, and not being a giant baby.
The Good: When I step back into that bigger perspective, things are good. We’ve made excellent steps forward with the marching band (HAHA STEPS BECAUSE MARCHING BAND), there is a ton of excellent music being released right now, and my foot injury is healing so I can play soccer again soon. Without the outlet of playing on my soccer team, I would probably lose my mind and start putting my body parts in blenders. Also, Dischordia is about half a song away from having our next album written!
The Ugly: My bass skills at the moment. Being busy has made my hands feel like wimpy sausages attached to stale pancakes when I’m working on these bass lines.
Come all you weary, and take a load off in the comments.
