Bang the Drum!

Well, Senior Rippers, we are certainly in a different place than we were the last time I wrote Take the Plunge. While the world outside my window still seems innocent enough, and snowshoeing is still permissible in our new world of Social Distancing, my advice to you this week is consider learning to play the drum, or any other instrument that you have lying around your home for that matter.

The fact that music can heal the heart and soul is fact. “Rhythm” in Greek means to flow, and the power of dance is palpable to all humans. For example, have you ever seen a toddler dance bare naked after a bubble bath? Their freedom to release positive energy is joyful. Music, and especially rhythm, is a universal language that needs no words to heal and restore.

For this reason, I am always on the quest to find the perfect instrument for me to play. To be honest, I am not a natural musician, but I have always loved participating in making music. I sing daily as part of my job, and I dream to be one of those hip teachers with a guitar in my lap. So as one of my New Year’s resolutions, I signed up for a 30 day learn-to-play guitar program online with Tony Polecastro. Dutifully, I played for the recommended 10 minutes a day and did make progress but never quite mastered the chords well enough to play in front of an audience.

Then I stumbled upon a loaner ukulele at my local library, which I checked out right before the news about the Corona Virus hit (yes, our local library has ukuleles to check out!). The library is now closed but lucky for me, I will be able to keep the ukulele until it reopens and use all these extra hours at home to try once again to learn to play a few tunes for my young students. Brett McQueen is my new buddy online and his Ukulele Tricks website has four free lessons for true beginners. I am all signed up.

Yet today I found myself remembering the energy flow in a drumming circle that I observed several years ago in Asheville, N.C. (pre-Social Distancing), and found myself looking online for virtual drumming circle opportunities.

Project-resiliency.org offers just this opportunity as drumming supports individuals, families, and communities during times of joy, sadness, and change. This group claims that drumming can lower blood pressure, produce feelings of well-being, and reduce emotional stress. Couldn’t we all use a bit of that help right now?

So Senior Rippers, consider turning some pots and buckets upside down and grabbing some wooden spoons and let the drumming begin!