Re: [Harp-L] Projection

["Splash" <celtiac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alot of what Ken says is about everything in life.  I was watching one of
the candidates for President in America recently and what he said really
resonated with me and my music.  He was talking about global politics but I
heard it in the context which I was relating to at the time. [Dennis
Kucinich, Congressman from Cleveland]

He said, paraphrasing here... That when we are at a crisis point, or a stage
when the difficulties are the greatest and the tension is highest, and
things look the most dire, is when the potential for a major breakthrough is
also the greatest.

When I am in the doldrums musically, and seem stuck, the tendency is to take
a break.  Go do something else for a few weeks.  But when I persevere, and
keep pushing and pushing, and my angst get so great that I just want to
quit, that's when I will get some little thing that sparks my muse and I get
enthused and then - viola!  Breakthrough.

Alot of people are tempted to ease up when the going gets tough, and keeps
getting tougher, and there seems to be no relief.  That's when you need to
grit your teeth and keep at it.

Like one of my mentors once told me, "How you do anything is how you do
everything." [T. Harv Eker] Some folks quit when the going gets the
toughest.  And that's the same whether it's a relationship, a job, or at
school or whatever.  But usually that's when the next smallest step will
mean success.  They climb the staircase to the next-to-last step and then
give up. One step away from the top.

Those who become successful are them that take that next step when it seems
the most hopeless.

PEACE
Scott
Believe in Magic!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Deifik" <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Projection


>
> >But like Robert says : do the work !
>
> I'm with Chris and Robert.
>
> At every stage of one's development as a musician (or in any other
endeavor
> for that matter) it's the stuff that's HARD to learn that provides the
> great breakthroughs to the next level.
>
> When you hear people say they're in a rut, or bored stiff or that there's
> nothing left to learn, it is because they no longer want to experience the
> great discomfort of trying to learn something that's so hard to learn that
> your first impulse is to throw whatever it is out the car window.  After
> you get pretty good at something, lots of stuff is alot easier to learn,
> and your self-image brightens up, and tells you you're talented enough to
> have had those breakthroughs that you've made already, and you're not
> having a rough time getting better.  Now, when you identify something that
> is hard to learn, it is very nearly an experience of revulsion: 'I thought
> I was past the hard stuff! I'm outta here before I get really depressed.'
>
> This is one of the few ubiquitous human situations, as far as I can
> tell.  I have never met a person who doesn't hit those comfort-zone stages
> all through their lives, me more than most.  But I have come to relish the
> sensation that I'm not smart enough or talented enough to learn a thing
> without a great deal of unpleasant effort, because I'm now fully aware
that
> that's the prelude to a breakthrough - the perfect time to plow on.
>
> It's the people who really, REALLY, want to excel that learn to not duck
> away from the unending surprise appearances of Hard Stuff To Learn.  I
love
> those stages where I seem to grow and learn effortlessly, just by
> practicing every day, but I get really suspicious after a while, that I
> have entered a rut even if it doesn't feel like one yet.
>
> I didn't really follow this thread when it was about something
> mechanical-sounding in chromatic harmonica, I think, as that observation
> seemed pretty subjective, and was in an area where I had nothing to
contribute.
>
> But now that it seems to be about learning how to play one's instrument so
> that it doesn't sound mechanical, well I've thrown my hat in the fire, as
> Ted Baxter once said.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l