Backpacking

I’m on a backpacking trip with my son and a few others this weekend; I’m thinking about the process for planning for a backpacking trip.

Backpacking effectively is about essentials. What do you need? Because you’ll have to carry it all.

When you really assess the essentials, you can tend to look at the rest of your life as extravagant – both a spoon and a knife?! Both a bowl and a plate?! Multiple pairs of shoes?!

It’s not extravagant, it’s different. The stove, fridge, and Queen mattress aren’t extravagances in normal life, but you can appreciate them more completely when you take a little time to pare down to the true essentials.

In the same way, it’s worth paring back our musical rehearsals to the essentials, on occasion. I like to do monthly rehearsals with no piano – it makes ears better (both mine and my students’), and I appreciate it and use it with more discretion when it’s next available. Weekly rehearsals off-system with Gold Company helped me appreciate all the ways the sound system helped us. Even taking a rehearsal outside, away from all the amenities of your rehearsal space, can help you focus on what is really essential about your rehearsal, and how you can integrate more mindfully into your space.