Posted by: ladypayne
Shared my piano talents in front of some people.. yikes! - 10/02/12 09:44 PM
So to start off this story, I work at an assisted living home. Most of the residents that live there have mental health issues of some sort and need constant supervision. They have pretty small lives and while the home tries to take them out as much as possible, it gets pretty boring. They don't have much interaction with their families either and they are always stressed out because of these issues. I have been debating for several weeks now rather or not to bring in my piano and play for these guys..My dad actually encouraged me and gave me the idea. As much as he pestered me about the idea.. i was still not too sure about it. I was even nervous about asking my boss too! But, I finally gathered up enough courage last week and asked my boss if I could bring in my piano. She did not care and said I could bring it in whenever. Awesome right! So now the problem was having enough courage to actually bring in the piano and play in front of these guys. I rarely if ever play in front of people so the thought of it is quite terrifying. Fortunately there are only 6 guys and most of them don't care. They are usually just so happy to do anything with staff members. Yesterday, I finally brought in my piano. I set it all up. I ended up leaving it up for my whole 8 hour shift. I played it quite a lot too. Most of my shift in fact. The guys loved it! I even let a few of them try it out. The best part about this story is about one particular resident. His brain is about 75% gone from an illness. All he does is set in a chair and wait for a pilot that he thinks is coming to get him. He sets in this chair for like 10 hrs a day too. He doesn't do much and literally can't do much. He had so much fun listening to me play the piano. He even went to his room and got out his guitar and started playing along and singing. While he can't really play at all, it was still pretty cool that he got that excited. He was pretending to be Johnny Cash the whole time. He was in such a good mood all day. I think, out of all the residents, my music had the most impact on him. It was so neat to see him get out of that chair and play his guitar. He was just so happy.. He was still talking about his guitar playing and being Johnny Cash this morning. I played David Nevue's Amazing Grace for another one of the residents, and I asked him how he liked it.. He didn't say anything for a minute then he said, can you play it again? So of course, I played it again. Then he asked me if I could bring in my piano the next day! So what can I say? Overall, a really good day at work. My boss says I can bring in my piano whenever I want too. Once a week if I like. Music is the best therapy for stress right =) And... I wasn't really that nervous in the end since I already knew the guys pretty well 
It's the music. I still stumble every time I play, and I've been playing for about 3 years. It's not a performance, really - it's a community thing, and an interaction. You can stop in the middle and tell them you have try again, or ask if anyone can help. Just laugh. And play music. It is so cool.