All that it takes to become a guitarist is to start making music.
It’s the same in every category.
Start doing the work and you are now that thing you want to be.
Do it every day and you are on your way to mastering your tools of choice.
Perhaps the greatest trap we fall into with the categories we create is the lack of resources.
Ironic if you think about it.
We are so rigid in creating so few categories of how we make sense of the world that we are then surprised when we lump everything into them then look around and see so few options left.
The world has so many possibilities. Unlimited. Our brains work overtime to simplify it.
I’ve started playing guitar again. It’s been ten years.
No dreams of being a rock star or making money with it.
I’m playing for the joy of it.
We do all sorts of things for joy. But somehow as we get older we quit doing new things because of all the time spent failing at the beginning.
I watch one sports team–the Phoenix Suns. I’ve been watching for as long as I can remember. They also have never won a championship. Last season they came within two games of winning it all.
Here’s the thing: You can’t rush the experience. I didn’t sign up to watch a team that has a long history of winning titles. I signed up for a novel, not a short story.
There’s a metaphor here:
Are you rushing to get things done or are you trying to get to the good part?
Are you trying to ease the tension or increase it?
In our highly charged and highly political world, it is easy to tell ourselves a story where the end justifies the means for a virtuous cause.
However…
Right is as extreme of view as wrong is. It blinds us from the wisdom of seeing the world as it really is.
There is no ground to stand on.
The opportunity to make a choice increases our motivation.
Take away choices and we don’t become unmotivated.
On the contrary, when there is no choice to be made we look to be taken care of.
Two people looking at the same problem can come up with different solutions.
Take for example someone trying to hang a picture:
One might think that the answer is a quarter-inch hole and someone else may see an opportunity to make their home more inviting.
There is only one solution to drilling a hole into the wall–buy a drill. By contrast, there are lots of ways to turn a house into a home and to create a feeling.
Obviously, I’m not just talking about hanging a picture on the wall.
We often get so comfortable about the system we live in we begin to position it in our minds as the only one that can be imagined.
How can anyone else do things so differently?
Even worse is when we think that the status quo is the best it can be.
“Don’t wear shoes in the house.”
Of course, if you came home to a fire and you ran in to save the cat, you wouldn’t be worried about the carpet.
Rules are imaginary. Agreements we make to make the culture run better. The problem with exceptions is that we can use them to justify bad behavior. Ignoring the spirit of it in the first place. We also use rules to create limits for ourselves. Which is no help either.
Some rules help us (cigarette companies shouldn’t be allowed to market to teens for obvious reasons) and others can be changed and adapted.
As a practice, I write every day. I guess you can call it a rule I live by. We can create rules that help reinforce a system that is working for us to create our best selves.
A professional musician isn’t surprised when she comes up with a beautiful solo live on stage.
They know how much work they have put into developing their craft.
The reason why everyone else is surprised is that the audience/critics don’t see all the hours behind the scenes you have put into your craft.
