Recharging

Late fall and the main part of my traditional picking season is behind me, and currently I am at a point of having no scheduled programs/concerts coming up.  I may add some Christmas programs and winter shows, but do not have any right now.

It has been my 3rd year of playing solo, and I am enjoying it.  This year especially I have felt myself beginning to feel my shows are gelling to what I want to be as a solo act.  I still miss having David picking with me, but also am enjoying playing on my own.  This year I have done shows that included my acoustic guitar, bluegrass banjo, old time banjo, harmonica, washboard, (the standards from years past) along with mandolin and electric guitar (new for me).

This time of year is when I recharge and start looking forward to next year, and also spend more time learning new songs and tunes.  It is also a time for reflection and soul searching.  Over the years I have found that I suffer with bouts of depression.  I thought this was a bad thing, until I read that John Denver and Elvis Presley also suffered with deep bouts of depression.  I always thought of them as upbeat guys, who had their act together, and functioned at a high level.  So if they have depression, then I do not need to worry so much when I do, as long as I keep it in perspective.

I have only recently started admitting to having depression, as most of the time, I would just say I was tired or melancholy.  Of course when you say you have depression, someone will invariably recommend you check into getting anti-depression medicine.  Perhaps I would feel more inclined to that if I felt my bouts with depression were at all destructive, in that I might contemplate injury to myself or others.  But it isn't.  It is more a time of going inside, reflecting on what is going on, working on ideas to make things better, and recharging my batteries, by getting more sleep and rest.  Many times ideas for songs and lines for those songs come to me in these times. 

As I have studied about people and depression, I have learned that often creative people suffer more often from times of depression.  So that is my excuse, and a chance for me to declare myself as a creative person.

So I will go through these times and when challenged, I will smile, say I am fine and go forward to play more music.  I'll see you down the road.

Nelson