Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. I wrote a couple of posts about auditions last week, but auditions just feel so irrelevant right now with everything being cancelled for the foreseeable future.

As many of you probably are, I have been on social media more hours than I would like to admit, attempting to get some social interactions online while we are all stuck at home. It is actually so amazing that we have the internet right now in our current situation.

I decided to work on my social media presence on Instagram and write regularly on my blog with the extra time. I get antsy when I don’t have work, so I tend to fill up idle time with major projects… anyone else?

As performers, our success depends on being willing to put ourselves “out there” in front of others. It is scary, but I believe it is a skill we can practice much like anything else.

I have been a church musician, mostly on organ and piano, for 7 years now. Having that weekly performance opportunity has been amazing for building my confidence. At my current church, each week I play a piece on the flute, accompanying myself with the recording feature on the keyboard.

I am excited to start using social media as another place where I can regularly perform. It’s not live, but it requires the same kind of courage to press the post button on a video.

It has been a fabulous tool to get myself to record more and listen to myself more. One of the easiest ways to create content as a musician is to simply video yourself playing something. It’s not always easy to share, but it’s easy to make a video.

The good thing about posting online is that when you’re a newb like me, you don’t have much of an audience anyway. Even if you make some mistakes, no one is really watching anyway. Starting small allows you to experiment with your content. It has been very interesting considering the “brand” I want to present online. It’s based on who I actually am, of course.

Just before coronavirus blew up, I had a lesson with Jim and he was encouraging me to let out more of my inner diva in some of the excerpts and play with more… what’s the word? Sass?

He then said, “You’re just very wholesome. It’s just who you are.”

A couple of weeks later, I decided to get on social media and remembered that. I felt like it gave me my “angle.” It is true in a lot of ways. I’m a mother, my day outside of practicing is work (usually), cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids, and sewing. It does sound pretty wholesome, although I never attached that particular word to myself before.

Thank you to everyone who has recently followed me or checked out any of my posts, including you! I’m not sure at this point what I am going to do with my social media or blog. Eventually, I hope to gain some real life students. So far, I have heard so many lovely flutists and respect anyone putting themselves on social media. Using the internet as an audience during quarantine has been wonderful.

Who knows where this will lead exactly, but I am excited to share my journey with you and I hope it will be helpful to someone.