A musical conundrum

4:27 am, and the house is silent (not a surprise at this hour) … Dad’s alarm will ring in about an hour, and in about 3, I will be asleep (hopefully), maintaining the sleep schedule for graveyard shift at the local Town Pantry.

it seems that the majority of my life is controlled by the balancing act between work and sleep anymore, and cast into turmoil by sickness and exhaustion–half the time I work under the influences of a cold or flu because of the nature of being in contact with so many germ-infected parasite carriers. The rest of the time, it seems the sleep is never enough, and the coffee is becoming less and less a viable remedy for my hazy awakeness.

Now, about the conundrum:

As those who know me well, or read my intermittent entries know, I have been on the downside of a battle with a phantom wrist injury, which doctors have been unable to pinpoint over four years, and which has rendered my music career stagnant if not dead in terms of physically playing (the mental effects of this are much more devastating some days, but that is a topic for another entry).

However, somehow a regular customer at the store has learned of my musicianship, and desires (if he can obtain custody of his daughter and move her to FL) to employ me as her flute teacher … thus, the conundrum unfolds:

The injury itself has left me in a position where I barely play now what I once put in 5 or more hours a day on. In the instances that I try, pain sets in within minutes, and becomes unbearable after about half an hour–given the circumstances, I am uncertain of how effectively I can teach, since music involves far more than simply imparting the knowledge … practical application is a must.

Add to this that my home is unsuitable to teach in, given the family, the mess, the cats, and everything else–where would the lessons be held? Do I need to have a business license in order to charge for lessons? What type of contract should I have in place, and do I even need one? (Shivers, I suspect you might have background on this).

Rose has faith in me, and it is a very appreciated feeling to know that she does, since right now my faith is not all that strong in myself given the circumstances. I wish and pray that somehow the doctors will find whatever it is instead of what all it is not (my wrist, my neck, and carpal tunnel have all been ruled out).