The highlight of my day was that I learnt how to customise my videoconferencing background. I could upload some of my own pictures and appear to be at Machu Picchu or on Ipanema Beach.
The latter is probably quite appropriate, because my goal is to play some Bossa Nova music on the guitar. I am so thankful for the opportunity to make music in this time of strangeness and Covid-19. In the free hours of the day its a way to apply my mind to something, to work towards something and notice the progress as I learn to master new techniques and chords.
Ever since I was a child I found some sort of escape in music. Its one of the few activities that consumes so much of my mind that I don’t have any room left to worry about the things that would otherwise worry me. Not only is it a mental and physical challenge to get the coordination and rhythm together, but also it takes some significant emotional capacity to interpret the music.
Even if I am not playing, just listening to music has the incredible effect of transporting me to a place, known or unknown for a little while. Just listening to the Girl from Ipanema takes me to the one incredible weekend I visited Rio de Janeiro. It still feels like a bit of a dream, but oh so sweet. My first beach walk turned out to be cancelled due to a burst of rain that left me looking and feeling more like a bedraggled chicken than the suntanned girl in the song. However, I can still feel the warm sun on my skin from the rest of the week and the warm ocean as I went for my surf lesson on Praia de Arpoador.
I hope in these days you can also escape to somewhere where you are happy.
Be kind. Stay safe
mcharlottesmith 