Mary J. Blige on Scary Things and Keeping Going

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy!

“Everything is scary if you look at it. So you just got to live it.” 

Mary J. Blige

Watching Youtube, or listening to music, we may hear a piece of music that resonates with us. It creates a spark and inspires us.

And we want to play the music that captivates us. We want to spin the webs that ensnare hearts, as ours has been.

But then, sitting alone with our guitar in a spotlight of reality, we glimpse the distance. We recognize the massive gap between where we are now and where we want to be. And staring into this void, we may face many emotions–overwhelm, hopelessness, regret, tiredness.

When we then consider what to do today, we may begin to doubt whether our modest practice could ever take us there. We question the promise of long-term strategies. We reason that musical hedonism and immediate gratification may be the wiser choice.

Depending on our mood, zooming out too far can be at best unproductive, and at worst crippling.

Why? Because when we’re focused on how far there is to go, we take our eye off of that which has the potential to take us there. And what is that? The current moment, with our full attention and focus.

Practice is most rewarding and productive when we bring our full selves to it. -When we set challenging obstacles and overcome them. -When we ride the razor’s edge of “hard but not too hard”.

Wonderful things happen when we opt for quality and full attention in our practice. The practice becomes an end unto it itself. It doesn’t make it easy, but it feels good to do the hard work.

The “doing it” is the reward. Even if we depart this earth tomorrow, we can smile knowing that we’ve lived well for this practice.

Like George Gershwin sang, “For suddenly, I saw you there And through foggy London town The sun was shining everywhere…”