Monday Musings: Something Truly Special

Yesterday I was teaching my goddaughter how to play the guitar. She loves music and she sings well, too, and guitar is something that she has always wanted to learn. Of course, being 13 with no finger strength or flexibility as an absolute beginner, she started to get frustrated.

“I don’t feel confident because I’m not good at this,” she said. “But the only way to get good is to keep going until your fingers get strong and they develop callouses,” I said. She wondered why it is that her classmates are already so good at guitar and why it looks effortless when it’s so hard to learn. “Practice makes progress,” I insisted. What else can I say?

You know, if there’s one thing I wish I learned much earlier it’s this: talent is nice to have because it can get your foot in the door, but the daily, boring practice of the craft is what gets you good enough to do something truly special. Note that I don’t say “on top” or “successful” although these are what came to my mind first. They just didn’t sound right - well, not anymore, to me. I’ve learned that being the best, richest, or most famous is not the most fulfilling to be. It’s comfortable, sure. But fulfillment and comfort are never the same thing.

I say “truly special” because therein lies meaning for you and the people you practice your craft for. Maybe it’s to write a song or a story that makes someone else feel much less lonely. Maybe it’s to sing a melody or paint a picture that reminds someone else of a precious memory. Maybe it’s to keep a beauty blog for fifteen years because somehow it helped other people feel a little bit more confident in themselves and their own beauty. Who knows. It all depends on what you find meaningful. Otherwise, why try so hard when there are easier ways to survive and even be comfortable?

I was watching this new anime called Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End over the weekend. I linked the premiere! In one scene, the practically immortal elf Frieren spends six months looking for a flower that she has never seen and everyone seems to have forgotten about. Her apprentice questions this, thinking it’s a waste of time.

“Why are you so devoted to magic? I cannot comprehend it,” she asks.

“You should be able to. You didn’t give up on becoming a mage either,” says Frieren.

“It’s different. I just need to be able to survive on my own. Any method would do. It didn’t have to be magic.”

“And yet, you chose magic,” says the elf.

May we have the courage and grit to choose magic - something truly special.