By Saika Bince
I have this bad habit of liking to be automatically good at everything I do. If it doesn’t come to me organically, I get frustrated and give up on it. Can you relate?
The first instrument I ever picked up was a trumpet. Even though my band teacher would compliment my growth and encourage me to continue practicing, I failed to see my progress and quit. The truth is, I am my own worst critic. It didn’t matter much what my band teacher thought, I thought I sucked at playing it.
Beyonce wasn’t born with an impressively wide range, Quincy Jones didn’t exit the womb hitting every note on the trumpet perfectly, and even Squidward still makes noise on his clarinet lol. It’s the practice, time & effort put into what they do – to reach where they wanted to be, that got them where they are now. You are not born an A student, born an A-list actress, or a grade A human. So it’s ok to suck and make noise! Everyone makes noise before they can make music. Such is life. Through your struggle, you make your music beautiful.
So true, I can definitely relate. Same thing happened to me when I picked up the guitar a few years ago. Just wanted to start writing my own music with and it took a while for me to realize I had to stop being such a perfectionist and allow myself to make mistakes. That’s the beauty of music..sometimes u get that great song but u gotta go through a little “noise” before u get progress and understand that as humans were allowed mistakes because in the end it only make us better learners.
Comment by Karime R. — August 6, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
I think the problem starts when people insist on training children that something they are doing is “right” or “wrong” especially when it comes to what they are attempting to express of themselves. It’s actually all apart of the journey and GROWTH and the path to it, is never a MISTAKE.
Comment by MiracleDawn — August 6, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
Great perspective. I love this piece, so true to life
Comment by brianna — August 15, 2009 @ 3:28 pm