I enjoyed my lesson this afternoon. I wasn't sure it would go well because I've had a recurrence of a left cervical nerve root impingement that sends pain down my left arm and into my back. It started about ten days ago and after three trips to the physiotherapist it is finally starting to settle. Mind you, it's my own jolly fault because I don't sit up straight enough when I'm at the desk or driving the car.

Anyway, the Chopin ballade went well enough including the second page of the coda and the other smaller pieces, the Scarlatti sonata and a Czerny etude are coming along.

I really get a lot of inspiration from watching other people who are artists. For instance, just last week I was watching a documentary about the Sydney theatre company staging Hedda Gabler, with Cate Blanchett in the title role. All the people they interviewed had this incredibly honest enthusiasm about them and a curiosity about what the development of the play would unearth. Talking about what they were doing, they had no fear in their voices.

So, I tried to remember that feeling and it helped me to go and really want to play. Maybe there's a key in that somewhere.