I've spent the last few months rebuilding my studio space after a roof leak took it out of commission last February. I spent the 10 months it was out of commission working on rebuilding my live rig with whatever small bits of time I had outside my day job at Richmond Ballet, and I spent the last 2 years there trying to keep things afloat but pivoting to a much heavier focus on video to help create virtual classes and virtual performances in the early days of the pandemic. And then just constantly adapting and evolving as covid meandered it's way through our lives, while we tried to navigate safety protocols without giving up on making art. I don't take even a tiny bit of the fact that I was able to stay employed in my field throughout the entire pandemic for granted, but I've never worked harder in my life to make it happen while the weight of "the new normal" definitely pressed down on me hard.
Getting back to music at this point feels like starting over. Tabula Rasa. I'm still frankly learning how to use the new live rig I've put together. Building finger tip callouses back up. Designing soon-to-be-built dulcitars in my head and on paper... Chasing after more ideas than I have time or money for. Everything has changed so much in the last 2 years that I know getting back to performing and attending shows will be weird but I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones and rebuilding connections with everyone out here just trying to do their best.
I constantly remind myself:
I'll never be able to do enough. But I'll always be able to do more.
That applies to my art as much as it does existing in the world in 2022.