Nervous Insecurity

On the radio recently I heard a piece about the composer Sergei Rachmaninov. Apparently, just before he composed his Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (one of my favourite pieces of classical music) he suffered from something known as “Nervous Insecurity” which prevented him from composing. He dedicated this symphony to the hypno-therapist who helped him get over it.

In writing terms we call it “Writer’s Block”. I think I prefer the musical term because let’s face it, that is exactly what happens when we get writer’s block. Our insecurity keeps us from writing.

I find a lot of hope in this story. After overcoming his block Rachmaninov went on to write perhaps the greatest piece of music of his career. May we all have such luck when we overcome our insecurities.