Burrito West Blog

I had big plans over the holiday to practice violin a lot, since I'm normally pretty slack about it and I know there's no progress without practice. In the end it just didn't happen.  For some reason I am only in the mood in the evenings and Peter is generally home then and I want to do things with him and/or not make him suffer through it (even with a mute on a badly played violin is a terrible thing).  So, when I went to my violin lesson last night - the first lesson in over a month - I was a bit worried. The piece I was supposed to be practicing hadn't had a lot of practice (I crammed all last week though).  And I played it better than I ever have (usually I play worse at the lesson than at home)!  It was pretty awesome. Seriously, usually things go terribly at the lesson, so this was a nice switch.  :)

It's the hardest part of learning any new thing - persevering when you suck at it. Dance is the same way - early on there were lots of times when we didn't feel like going because we were stuck and didn't think we'd improve... but of course we stuck with it and did improve. We're still challenged at dance (there's always more to learn) but we're also at a place where we can have fun in any dance situation. This is probably truer for me because Peter is limited by what he knows where I am only limited by what my partner knows, and when I dance with someone very experienced it can be an adventure.

Violin is years away from being fun. Seriously. And I knew that going in - it's a long road. I'm trying to find enjoyment in it anyway - the fact that it uses a different part of my brain, appreciating the small bits of progress.  I envy musicians who can just pick up an instrument and play, but then, they put in a lot of practice over many years, I'm just late to the party.