I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline.
— Duke Ellington
Yesterday, the choir class I joined at a local college had its final performance of the year. I think we did great, though I have yet to see a video or hear a recording.
This course was the first time I’ve done any serious performing in a very long time (decades). I’m prone to thinking that I enjoy playing music and singing for my own enjoyment, and performing isn’t terribly important to me. There is something to be said, however, for the kind of deadline anxieties that having a looming performance can bring. Instead of “that was okay, but I should make it better next time” I was feeling more “OMG, I’ll let down the entire choir and the director if I can’t do this better tomorrow!”
—2p