Signs and symptoms

I didn't play for 4 days. It was a shame. It took me 15 minutes to warm up today.
I've been tired, listless, anxious, and out of balance. Almost depressed.
Does anyone have signs and symptoms of Ukulele Withdrawals after not playing for a long time like this?
What experiences can you share?

Because I've been so focussed on playing bass uke the last year or so, I haven't been playing my ukes that much. In the last few weeks I have picked up one when I'm sitting watching TV, and it also takes me about 15 minutes to warm up. Last week I bought the Hal Leonard book and tracks, "The Beatles for Fingerstyle Ukulele" as an incentive to play more.

Nickie said:

I didn't play for 4 days. It was a shame. It took me 15 minutes to warm up today.
I've been tired, listless, anxious, and out of balance. Almost depressed.
Does anyone have signs and symptoms of Ukulele Withdrawals after not playing for a long time like this?
What experiences can you share?

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I haven't hit uke withdrawal mostly because I'm trying to avoid addiction. I'm afraid that if I become addicted, My mom would probably get annoyed.

Cassie said:

I haven't hit uke withdrawal mostly because I'm trying to avoid addiction. I'm afraid that if I become addicted, My mom would probably get annoyed.

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Cassie, if it bothered my Mom, she'd be way past annoyed.....

Two weeks ago I was under pressure to play only guitar because I was ask to do a audio demo and I have not touched a guitar in years. As a result of that, I never touched my uke for a week and a half.
When I picked up the uke right after I finished the recording, my fingers didn't know what to do. I was in a panic thinking I have forgotten everything! I can't describe my feeling of relief and joy when I switched back to the uke.
These four strings make me very happy because every song is achievable if you focus and put in the effort! Don't think I will put it down again!

I get terrible withdrawal...

If I dont play for a few days I get really agitated and quick to anger.

If I dont play for OMG a week, I start to hear the VOICES (from the other side) and feel paranoid.

and OMG once I went 10 days without playing and was starting to have suicidal thoughts...(not really but it was almost that bad)

But since my uke practice is also my physical therapy for hand problems, if/when I dont play I end up feeling like a spaz because my hands get tight and cramped and then I'm basically disabled, reach for things or grasp things and I might as well be wearing big fat mittens and when I get back to playing after forced hiatus, it takes nearly a week or two to regain the manual dexterity/agility that I had previously.

So I try to not have an interruption in regularly playing otherwise I go to a really bad place both physically and mentally. :wallbash:

I don't think being away from the uke for several days puts me in a funk, BUT, if I am in a funk, grabbing a ukulele really helps me. I need to play every day, but I have times during the year where my music lessons take over and I just don't have the time. Or, if a performance is coming up and I'm practicing and can't get to my uke.

It is my musical therapy - my mood lifter!!!

I've experienced the same thing, SoloRule! I started out with the uke, at age 12, switched to guitar a couple of years later, played in several bands thru the years, finally closed the book on band gigs, and switched back to uke about two years ago, at age 60. There's something really fun, and challenging, about drawing pretty much any tune you can imagine out of those four ukulele strings! Of course the same is true with the guitar, but I think as I get older, I'm drawn to the simplicity of the four strings (re-entrant-tuned soprano in my case), and it's a wonderful journey. With that re-entrant tuning, it's like learning an entirely new instrument, and it opens up sonic possibilities I hadn't discovered before. But you're so right-- I too am now reluctant to even pick up a guitar (as much as I'll always love the guitar) because it disrupts the "feel" I've come to develop for the ukulele! Yes, I know, that's probably a little silly, but it's as if my entire senses of touch and balance and dexterity have become uke-oriented.

Making noise on the ukulele is a bit of my "break from the world", the ultimate "me"-time, so when I don't get the chance to sit down an hour or two with one of the ukes, there's definitely a sense of "something missing" there. Kind of like how you feel if you don't brush your teeth or take the daily shower. Just a feeling of "off-ness".

I don't get anxious or depressed (not over this at least), but I try to make time for the ukulele on most days. In some ways, it's like meditating, something where I shut out work, drama, anxiety, stress, and other mentally poisonous ballast. I don't always feel like practicing or noodling, but every time I do sit down and make noise, it's an uplifting experience -- and I feel better than I did before, inevitably.

Nickie said:

Cassie, if it bothered my Mom, she'd be way past annoyed.....

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LOL this is off topic but I must give my mom thumbs up. She saw me playing a long neck soprano and said, "Wow, that's a little one!" (I've never had a figure-8 soprano, so it was the smallest uke she's seen.) I told her the "real" soprano is shorter, and she said, "Oh, I wonder how different it sounds from this one?" Go Mom! If she had more time, I'd give her a uke for Mother's Day. As it is, I'll just be playing for her.

Uke withdrawal... I've felt them in the cases, wondering, wondering, hello, do we still play? But I'm easily sent on a guilt trip, so...

Hugs Nickie!

There have been some cool replies!
Yesterday I felt lazy and just wanted to lie down.
But I picked up the uke instead. The longer I noodled, the better I felt. Finally the feeling of wanting to sleep had subsided completely.
I smiled, real big.