The Genius of Discipline

Part of me has always identified with the "Temperamental Creative Genius"

I wanted to be the girl who sat behind a piano and suddenly, the next classical masterpiece would emerge effortlessly from my hands. 

I wanted to be that girl to whom everyone would ask the question, "what is your secret?"

I wanted to be moody and have an excuse for my moodiness.  I'm just a creative genius.  Duh. 

Sometimes, now waist-deep into a career as a professional piano teacher and musician, I look back and wonder if the reason I am here today is because I truly am a genius, or if the truth is really more on the side of discipline. 

A few posts ago, I wrote about how the disciples were out in the boat all night and caught nothing, and how, with Jesus in the boat the next morning, their nets overflowed.  Regardless of the result, their task was to get in the boat every morning and fish.

I think of the days, weeks, months, years, that I spent sitting at the piano, improvising. Early on, the returns were few and far between. It started small, but I saw fruits to playing by ear that kept me going.  The first victory was picking out Mary Had a Little Lamb - age 8.  After that, I picked out a harder song.  After that, I discovered how to use a few chords to enhance the melody.  Then more chords.  Then more keys.  Finally, in my early 20s, I got to the point of being able to play anything I want by ear, in any key.

Today, playing at a nursing home, someone approached me.  "You're so talented! What's your secret?"

At age 12, I desperately wanted it to be believed that I was the next Temperamental Creative Genius - that talent would leak out of me so naturally.  I was like an X-men character, an anomaly, someone unique and special.  

Today, at age 30 and one day, I realize that what got me here today is nothing but years of practice under the guise of having fun. 

One of the biggest lies we believe is that talent is doled out at birth, and you either have it or you don't. 

It is this belief that keeps us from working at things, and discipline. 

We see this belief in piano lessons.  Parents, suspecting they have a young Mozart on their hands, put their child in lessons, and expect Fur Elise to come out weeks later.  Then it doesn't, and they take the child out of lessons a year later.

We see this belief in marriages.  We believe there is a ONE.  With that One, somehow we will have a perfect relationship/marriage on my hands.  When we run into problems, it is easier to quit than work hard.  We trust that the innate talent just wasn't there.

A few weeks ago, a friend encouraged me to write a novel.

I felt embarrassed at his suggestion.  Music is my talent, was my thinking, and we only get one thing we can be good at, right?

But to humor him, and to experiment, I made the decision to commit to writing 3 pages a day of this novel - free flow, no corrections, no criticisms, just writing. 

I am amazed at a week and a half to see a small daily discipline turned into 30 pages.  I haven't uprooted my entire life to become a novelist. I haven't moved to Greenwich village, started starving for my art, or changed personalities. I have no idea how good or bad the writing will be at the end.  I just decided to devote 30 minutes a day to a new hobby. 

Although I love the romantic images I have in my head of Emily Bronte, Beethoven, Picasso, and van Gogh, living by their moody impulses, I am starting to think that it was daily discipline which created the genius. 

What are you feeling led to devote 30 minutes a day to?

Why my sister is Wonder Woman

My sister is Wonder Woman.  She wakes up every morning to three young children, all needing her in various ways.  Throughout ten years of married life, I have watched her heart expand and her thoughts become more generous and outreaching.  She juggles diaper bags, car seats, groceries, bills, appointments, meetings, housework, and still finds time to invest in book club and moms groups.  She used to indulge in bubble baths and expensive lotion (well, hopefully still does on occasion), but she has made room in her life for more.   She has always been capable of everything - responsible and organized, and unfailingly sends cards or gifts in the mail in time for birthdays, graduations, or any other special occasions.  She is a listening ear whenever I call (even with screaming children in the background).  I am amazed at her patience and ability to think positively. 

My sister is Wonder Woman.  She is fearless, and I admire her courage and scope for adventure.  She backpacked around Europe and Africa by herself.  She bungee-jumped and went on Safaris, walked part of the Appalachian Trail.  She has a calm, no-nonsense approach for life.  I admire her because her advice is unfailingly clear-headed and logical, and as she gets older, it is laced with wisdom and kindness.  She is a loyal friend and has maintained many friendships over many miles and years.  She works a high-profile job and has what it takes to go far in her career.  She finds the humor in any situation, and has the ability to look outside of her own experience and see irony or a joke.  She is constantly sending text messages with trivia - interesting things she heard on the news. 

My sister is Wonder Woman.  She has a compassionate and sensitive soul, but also a fiercy gumption and attitude of competence.  She has always known exactly what she wants to do with her life - care for animals.  She gives off a sense of purpose, whether in cooking a meal, changing a flat tire, kayaking on the lake, or giving an animal a vaccine.  She is highly intelligent but also charmingly clumsy at times.  She loves to be weird and she invites people to be comfortable being weird too.  She creates space for others to be themselves, to think and to process life, and to be together.  Her home space is kept tidy and has an air of hominess and comfort. 

My sister is Wonder Woman.  She has a sharp intuition and depth, and even at a young age was able to read people extremely well and postulate on the meaning of life.  She has a smooth sarcasm and sharp wit, and can see the comedy in subtle things around her.  Her perceptions and creativity are her hallmark, and everywhere she goes, she is showing another side of things - another side to the argument, another point of view, another work of art.  She thinks outside of the box in all things, which often gets her in trouble with deadlines but will serve her well in life. 

I don't just have just one sister.  I am lucky enough to have four, and lucky enough to call each of them some of my best friends.

 I was reflecting on how different each of my sisters is, how different our spheres in life are, and yet how much I believe that each is daily becoming "the best version of herself." Each has different gifts and different strengths, and it is when I see all of us together that I realize how necessary each gift, and each life lived to its fullest, is. 

Yep, my sisters are all Wonder Woman.  Collectively.