Last night we had the kind of thunderstorm that came with sirens and phone alarms and warnings to stay in the basement until it was all over; it lasted until 1 a.m., at which point I turned off my other alarms and slept seven hours straight.

It feels good not to be sleepy; it feels very strange not to have had that 6 a.m. burst of creative energy. I'm still doing the thing where I work (and practice the piano) from 6 until about 1:30 or 2; then I take a nap, and then I get on with the second half of my day (weights, books, dinner, spending time with L).

I probably ought to take a nap today, just to keep myself on schedule. I ought to at least lie down for one.

Since I was two hours behind this morning, I ended up cutting my piano practice down to 30 minutes (freelance work always comes first, for obvious reasons) — but I spent those 30 minutes really digging into "perfect form," and the session turned out to be extremely worthwhile.

I think the form thing is going to be a gamechanger. I told L last night that, after the performance I recorded yesterday, I realized that he and I were as just as good as any of the other pianists I've known personally. I'm not, like, comparing us to Horowitz or anything; just to the people I've met over the years who have also made the piano a significant part of their lives (professionally or not).

But it's not really about comparison.

What I mean, I think, is that I no longer have to worry about whether I'll be able to become the musician I want to be, or whether I'll have to settle for good-enough. I've picked up the skills and the tools I need to solve the problems I want to solve, which means all that's left is to put in the work.

I figured that out about writing, years ago — and with that in mind, let's take a look at where I got published this week. ❤️

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