Gripping this pen, my fingers are aggravating the fiery coals of my tendons.
Protesting louder than my quadriceps at the end of a 14,000-foot peak ascent, lately my hands have been reminding me why I had to learn to become ambidextrous in high school, why my teen years were largely spent crying in bed cursing muscles too weak to grip a container of milk, why I never thought I could be a musician.
I have suffered a fair amount of intense physical trauma. My upside down swan dive off a high diving board that landed me on concrete on my leg, my countless Tae Kwon Do injuries, having a root canal gone dangerously awry… these were painful moments.
Even so, they were moments. Those moments stacked together cannot compare with the constant, dull but unavoidable throbbing of teeth shifting in orthodontics. Or my hands improvising their own danse macabre.
Unable to focus elsewhere (or do much at all), times like these create excellent opportunities for meditation and stripping my life of all non-critical appointments and projects. Forced to treasure each minute I spend on my cello or at the keyboard, I allow email and Facebook posts to go unanswered in exchange for getting just one more take of the song I have committed to record today.
Breathing deliberately in preparation for typing this with two fingers into my computer, I find myself intensely appreciative to be alive, and more importantly, to be present to my life.
Ms. Dewberry, an accomplished cellist, completed her DMA in Chamber Music Performance from UCLA in December 2005. She received her MM in Cello Performance from UCLA in June 2002 and her B.M. in Cello Performance from Western Michigan University in April 1998. She also holds a B.A. in French with a minor in Women's Studies and Philosophy.
Ms. Dewberry is celebrating the release of her latest album, “Origins.”
Her website is www.carterdewberry.com
She may be contacted at carter@carterdewberry.com
