It’s been a really crazy year for me. I’ve done so much, and had to turn into a bit of a Duracell bunny – you know that hideous pink thing that just kept going and going and going andgoingandgoingandgoing…..?

I am my own worst enemy – I take on all sorts of things, and then try to make it all perfect. So not only does a concert involve the actual practise and playing, but I’m doing the set-up, the ticketing, dealing with arrangers and composers, the bump-down… you get the picture. It’s all too much. (That’s just the concert part. Let alone the music programs, or the resource creating….)

And if one thing fell out of place, things started to get a bit hairy. There were too many teary nights, as I felt totally overwhelmed. Too many mornings up far too early to fit everything in. Not enough time with friends.

I work for the Australian Children’s Music Foundation (ACMF) – a charity that gives music to children that are disadvantaged in some way. I have worked for the ACMF for over 13 years, and believe in music education, and the work it does with every fibre of my being. And after working for four days for the charity, and then having three days to run my performing career, I’ve just made the swap to be the other way around (well, there goes my OAM. Slacking off now!).

And today is my first Thursday that I am being Rachel-the-cellist, rather than Rachel-the-educator-I’ll-leave-it-all-to-Friday. It’s been a good day. I’ve got loads done. I’ve done the washing. I’ve gone to a yoga class, taught by an excellent teacher.

It’s a drop in pay. But sometimes, I’m not sure that having lots of money is the best reason to work too hard. The way I was going, I would have had some kind of breakdown. And now I can be a cellist more, and I like that.

So what am I going to do? I think the sixth suite beckons. I’ve never learned it properly. And I have a season of ‘Orange is the New Black’ to watch. And the garden needs some care. I might even start cooking again….