Today I am going to bring things a bit closer to heart, so to speak. I will show my appreciation to something I havenβt been very good at appreciating over the last few years, and that is my right arm and hand.
I got tendonitis in it in 2015 while I was on tour in northern Norway. I let it go so far that the inflammation got permanent and I eventually had to quit playing my beloved bass. I tried every kind of treatments, and ended up having surgery to get better.Β
In the years after I was depressed, I was angry, I felt despair and I felt lost. I felt as something – the only real thing I was any good at – had been taken from me. Everything seemed to be harder to do, I lost a lot of the joy in things I had experienced before and I believe I got somewhat bitter due to it all.
It took me many years and many tries to get over the fact that I would never be musician again. I Held so dearly to that hope that it took away much of the things I could, and should, have spent my energy on instead.
Now I have learned not to focus on the things I lost due to the tendonitis, but what I was allowed to have before I lost my ability to work as a musician. I was given the opportunity to entertain, I paid my bills with money earned from giving music and joy to people, I got to travel the entire country and a lot of places outside of the country, I met wonderful people, attended events with kings and ministers, brought knowledge about music traditions to people and I was able to make people dance.
These things I have learned to ficus on instead of what I lost and the difficulties I faced living with an arm that wouldnβt function as it used to. I still have my arm, I am still able to live my life pretty much as usual, and I have learned to work around most of the problems I faced living with an arm that donβt have the same capacity as it used to.
Today I want to give my thanks and appreciation to my right arm and hand.Β
Thank you, I truly appreciate what you are, what you can do and the things you gave me for so many years.
