As restrictions get tighter in Alberta around social distancing in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we need to be creative in the ways that we connect.

I am an introvert.  I love my people and I love the couple of hundred folk that I’m used to working with every week.  But I’m the first to seize solitude when it is offered.  I need it.  It is very much a happy place for me, as I find the rest and recharge that fuel me through the time I get to spend with people.  But this is different.

We are a family of introverts – now all of us working from home and in the house for the majority of every day.  We are allowed to get outside, unlike some of our European friends, but it’s cold and snowy and icy underfoot today, and as a neighbour recently remarked, there are only so many walks you can take in a day.  So five of us in the same space is sometimes a bit tricky to navigate.

There are many good things that I’m seeing in my family through this – but all this good time together is still not a replacement for the community we were designed to experience.  Some folk don’t have “isopeeps” to share these strange days, and for some folk, the people they’re isolating with are challenging.  A couple of weeks in, and the strains on mental health are starting to show.

Whistling Duck Music is trying to create space for connection even in these times of isolation.  All are welcome here.  Wednesday night play-along jams, Friday night open-mics, private lessons as desired or needed.  Because even if we’re on our own couches in an empty room, seeing the faces of our friends and community members on the screen is important.  I know that the big-time music community are offering live-stream concerts and many excellent diversions to help us through this time.  I love that.  But it doesn’t replace connection with people who know you, even if they’re on the same computer screen on which you just watched Elton John or Blue Rodeo.

I encourage you to come out to play, to show and tell, or to listen.  The join links are in the ticket links for the Facebook Events.

If you’re looking for guitar projects to focus on, I’m posting a video every Monday focusing on a riff or a doodle for one of the songs we tend to jam on.  Or let me know and we’ll schedule a time to set up some projects for you.

Stay strong, friends.  We can do this.  And we’re not alone, even while we’re in a room by ourselves (unless we want to be).  To borrow a hashtag from the Barenaked Ladies, #isolatenotisolation.  Let’s choose that, and shine on.