A Year in Review: Musical Journal Promts to Reflect on the Past Year and Start Your New Year Off Right
Dec 19, 2023Season 1Episode 6
Eleanor
It is that time of year again where we all sit down and reflect on this past year. For us as musicians, it is also important to think about how this year went musically. So in this cozy episode, we dive into journal prompts to reflect on 2023 and look ahead to 2024 -- and I will be answering these prompts as we go through the questions as well. So grab your beverage of choice (mine's tea), and let's hang out and reflect in this cozy episode.
AND so that you don't have to write down all of these prompts whilst listening, there is a guide with everything already written out -- just for you. Click here to get your copy!
And if you are a reader as well, I have a blog post all about this episode! Click here to read it.
And as promised in the episode, here is a link to join the mailing list. You will get special behind-the-scenes content, AND you will be the first to know when the next episodes and blog posts come out. Click here to join!
It is that time of year again where we all sit down and reflect on this past year. For us as musicians, it is also important to think about how this year went musically. So in this cozy episode, we dive into journal prompts to reflect on 2023 and look ahead to 2024 -- and I will be answering these prompts as we go through the questions as well. So grab your beverage of choice (mine's tea), and let's hang out and reflect in this cozy episode.
AND so that you don't have to write down all of these prompts whilst listening, there is a guide with everything already written out -- just for you. Click here to get your copy!
And if you are a reader as well, I have a blog post all about this episode! Click here to read it.
And as promised in the episode, here is a link to join the mailing list. You will get special behind-the-scenes content, AND you will be the first to know when the next episodes and blog posts come out. Click here to join!
It is almost the end of 2023. I cannot believe I'm saying that. Let me tell you, this year flew by, but at the end of every year, we all sit down and think about the past 12 months and, for us as musicians, we also reflect on how our 2023 was musically. So, in this cozy episode, grab your beverage of choice I have tea and let's reflect on 2023. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing podcast. I'm your host, eleanor, and after countless practice sessions, a ton of broken reads and seven different music school acceptances in three different countries, I have learned a thing or two about savoring your practicing, becoming your best practice companion and actively working towards your musical goals, and I want to share this with you because I want you to become your best musical self. Are you with me on this? Let's get started, okay. So get ready, because in this episode, we have some journal prompts for you, as a musician, to reflect on 2023 and think ahead to 2024. And as we are going through these, I will be answering these prompts as well in this episode. Oh and, by the way, so that you don't have to write down all of these different prompts, I have already created a PDF for you with all of them already written down so you can see them all and pick the ones that speak the most to you. So make sure to go check it out. It is in the show notes to this podcast, so make sure to go get it. It is just for you. Okay, let's dive in the first one we got.
Your Host, Eleanor:
What was one really valuable thing you learned this year, in 2023? For me, it was that things might take longer than expected, but that is absolutely fine as long as you are being consistent with it and working hard at it. Even if it takes longer, that is completely fine. For me, it was making the podcast. The podcast was an idea that I had in the spring of 2023, and all through the summer, I was working hard on making it a real thing. I had to learn a bunch of new things. I had to get my equipment. I had to learn how to use the software that I was going to use. I had to create my website. I had to create my blogs all of the ones that I was going to do. It was a lot of work, but even though it, in the long run, took a little slower than I had expected, I am so grateful that I kept pushing and I finished getting it ready, because I am so grateful for what it has become. We have this amazing community and I am so grateful to you for listening to my podcast.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next one is what is one thing you thought you could do better in 2023? For me, it was being a little kinder to myself when things got tough with practicing. In the spring, my practice gains were visible. They were good. I was having a great time. I felt really good about my practice sessions. It was good.
Your Host, Eleanor:
Then, in the summer, I started to see fewer gains and it started to get a little harder, even though that is absolutely normal because growth is not linear. I started to get a little frustrated and discouraged. I struggled with maybe not being the kindest to myself. I know, on this podcast I talk about be kind to yourself, give yourself grace. I fully believe in that, because when you don't, it is hard. I struggled with this over the summer and then during the fall, I started to actively be kinder to myself. I realized that I saw gains that I didn't realize I was making. In the summer they were not as many and they weren't as far, but they were still gains. Improvement is improvement. It is really important to be kind to yourself and give yourself grace. Even though that was something that I was struggling with, I am grateful that I, in the autumn, started to be kinder to myself. I fully believe in kindness to yourself when practicing.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next one is what is one challenge that surprised you in 2023? This one is a bit of a funny one for me. I had to go to the UK in the spring of 2023 for a music thing and it was kind of stressful at the beginning because I had realized a few weeks before my trip that I had not renewed my American passport. I am a dual citizen, so I have a British and an American passport. My British passport was renewed. It was good. My American passport had expired and I hadn't realized those two weeks of trying to get my passport renewed before my trip was they were the most stressful weeks of the whole year. It was really seriously insane. I got my passport back, like I got the renewed passport the day before I flew. It was really stressful, but that was one challenge that really surprised me. I did not see that coming, but I got through it and I was able to go back to the UK, which was really good.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question we have what is the one thing that you are most proud of this year musically? For me, it was working through all of my auditions In the autumn of 2022 and the spring of 2023, I was auditioning for 12 schools in three different countries and I had to do auditions for every single one of them. It was a lot, just to say the least. It was a lot. I am so proud of myself for getting through them all and for learning how much. I learned a ton about auditioning, about practicing, about performing through these experiences, and I am so proud of myself for working hard through them.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is listen to a recording of yourself from 2022. Where do you think you have improved Now? If you started playing your instrument in 2023, then you congratulations have improved 100%, but for me, looking back on a recording, something that I definitely see improved is my tone. I have really focused on trying to get it like a better quality, better sound quality, focusing on how that, how I can do that. Another thing that I've really been focusing on is my breath control and being able to play for longer periods of time, and I saw that. I listened back to a recording of myself from 2022 and I saw that I have improved. Even if it's a little bit right, I have still improved that, and so those are two things that I have improved since 2022.
Your Host, Eleanor:
When you listen back to a recording, remember, when you do this exercise, remember to listen to it objectively and not emotionally. Now I talk about this in episode three of my podcast. It is called turning practice into power three essential mindset shifts to transform your sessions, and in it I talk about the importance of when you listen to recordings of yourself, listening objectively, not emotionally. So before you go and do this exercise, make sure to just give that episode a quick listen. Or I have a blog post of the same title. If you go onto confidentmusicianingcom and go into the top right hand corner, there is the confident musicianing blog and you can just scroll through and find in that blog post of the same name what I mean when I talk about that, because it is really important, when you listen to recordings of yourself, to think objectively and not add some emotion into it, because that just does not help us as musicians. So go check that out before you do that exercise.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is basically how was your practicing this year. Now I feel like I've already said this in this episode, but at the beginning of the year it was strong and solid. I could see improvement and it was really good. In the summer it got less strong and I struggled to see progress. And then in the autumn and the winter it came back stronger and I am seeing the gains that I have made over the year and I'm really proud of myself for it. So if you look back on your practicing, just to kind of create a roadmap and to understand what you, how, you know how the how the practicing went this year.
Your Host, Eleanor:
Okay, moving on to 2024, looking ahead, questions Number one we got set three musical goals for yourself in 2024. For me, I want to play at least three recitals. I want to focus on my read making and get it so that they are consistently playable. My reads sometimes are a bit wonky, I'm not gonna lie, and it's hard to get them consistently playable. So that is a goal for me to get them consistently playable. And the last one which I'm really excited about, is to move to the UK. I am planning on moving to the UK in the late summer, early autumn, and I am so excited to move back.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is what do you want to continue doing in 2024? For me, I want to stay focused on practicing. I want to keep my same practice regime and continue to use a practice journal.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is what do I want to do differently in 2024? For me, I think that I want to also supplement my really really focused practice sessions with some fun sessions. If you have seen my Instagram, then you probably know about my jam sessions that I do a lot. Those are so much fun. But I think that I want to maybe supplement my more hardcore practice with some more rewarding practice where I just turn on a song or turn on a piece or whatever it is and just have fun with it. You know what I mean. Or just try a new piece or play something that I've never played before, or do something more fun as well as focused so I can have different types of practice sessions. You know I would still keep to the regime, right, I would still keep to my practice and, you know, focus on the really important parts of my practice, but I think that I also want to kind of add on some rewarding sessions that are just fun and lighthearted as well, because at the end of the day, I picked the oboe because I enjoy it. You know what I mean.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is what new thing do you want to start doing in your practice or performance in 2024? And I think for me it's just performing more. So any chance that I am given to perform, I think that I want to take it Now. There is obviously in that a little bit of I still need to think about do I want to do this, will it fit for me, etc. But I think that I want to maybe seek out more opportunities to perform, whatever it might be. I just enjoy performing and I know that the more I perform, the less nervous I get when I perform. So I think that that is something that I want to do differently just perform more.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next question is what is one aspect of 2024 that scares you? Just naming it helps to tame it. Have you ever heard that name it to tame it? It is something that helps me, at least when I'm stressed, just to say what stresses me, and it kind of helps to make it not seem as big as I do when I don't name it. That might not work for everyone, but for me it is helpful, and for that it is moving to the UK. I'm going to be honest, I am nervous about this.
Your Host, Eleanor:
This is something that, yeah, I am nervous about, but that helps us to go on to the next question, which is what is one aspect you are looking forward to in 2020? And for me it is the same answer Moving back to the UK. I am really excited about it. I am also nervous about it. It is a strange thing, that is, you know, in between, I am moving back to the UK and I am really excited about it and I can't wait to see what opportunities come about because of it. So Now, if you look in the PDF in the show notes, you will see that there are two bonus questions and if you scan the QR code on that page, it will take you to my responses to those questions. Now, these questions I really like. They are really really cool questions in my opinion, and I think that you will find them exciting as well. So make sure to go check out that PDF for those bonus questions and for my responses to those questions. And finally, I want to wish you a happy New Year. We made it to the end of 2023 and I am so excited for the things that are to come in 2024. I cannot wait to see you in the New Year.
Your Host, Eleanor:
The next episode of the podcast will be in the New Year, so podcast wise, we will see each other next in the New Year. Now, if you are on my mailing list, you will hear from me before the New Year. If you are not yet on my mailing list, I have put a link in the show notes for you to join the mailing list. It is so much fun. I share behind the scenes content of the podcast, as well as blog posts. You get access to things or notified about things before I tell people on Instagram or anywhere else, so if that sounds like something that is exciting for you, then please, please, please, do join the mailing list. It is so much fun. The link is in the show notes, so make sure to go check that out. Otherwise, I wish you a happy New Year and thank you so much for listening to this episode. Bye.
