You can do it
March 2, 2011 (Wednesday)
I watched one of the local television channels the other day as an artist painted a picture. Within the 30 minutes alloted, he turned a blank canvass into a beautiful oil painting. I was amazed. He made it look so easy that I wondered if I could do it. But then I thought about a piano. A person sits in front of those piano keys, lifts his/her hands, and simply moves them up and down the keyboard. So we get the clear impression that there’s nothing to it and anyone can do it. We know, however, that there’s a lot more to playing the piano than just moving your fingers and hands here and there, and not just anyone can sit down and play music.
Whether it’s painting pictures, playing the piano, building a house, constructing a cabinet, or any one of a thousand other things that people skillfully do, most of us know that those with these abilities have worked hard to train themselves. In all likelihood, that violinist you heard, whose music lifted your spirit and brought tears to your eyes, began his/her training when he/she was a small child.
We’ve all heard the slogan, “Practice Makes Perfect.” Every person who is really good at something has done it many times and has sacrificed in order to put in the necessary hours and effort to hone his/her skills.
Remember the person who was asked, “Do you play the piano? and replied, “Don’t know. Never tried.” Obviously, the person had no sense of what it means to be a musician.
Recently I heard “Scheherazade,” a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888. It was performed perfectly by the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. It features virtually every instrument in the orchestra and was exciting to hear and experience. The members of the orchestra obviously enjoyed presenting it very much. The next day I watched and listened to it again on “You Tube” as a youth orchestra in Slovenia performed it. It was absolutely inspirational and so very beautiful. I did not need to be told that every one of those young people had practiced, practiced, practiced. I could also see they loved what they were doing.
Why not?
They were giving their best.
That always makes a person feel good.