{"id":54058,"date":"2019-06-11T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=54058"},"modified":"2020-10-22T03:36:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T10:36:08","slug":"tq-emily-dickinson-forever-nows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-emily-dickinson-forever-nows\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily Dickinson on How to Live a Life of Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Quotes<\/a> are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cForever is composed of nows.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Emily Dickinson<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

When we first begin playing guitar, we dream of a life of music and challenge and fun.<\/p>\n

Loaded with enthusiasm, we gear up. We get an instrument. We dive into Youtube or buy some books.<\/p>\n

But after a while, the glow wears thin. The honeymoon ends. What once was play becomes work. We think we should be better than we are. We set unrealistic expectations and fail to meet them. We fuss at ourselves.<\/p>\n

Life gets busy. Practice becomes inconvenient. We feel unsure and insecure. We \u201cforget\u201d to show up and sit down to play. We lose momentum.<\/p>\n

To play guitar takes time. To play well takes more time. And that means dedication.<\/p>\n

And the reward of dedication is not an arrival at some climactic event.<\/p>\n

A dog doesn\u2019t chew a bone to finish<\/a> it. A dog chews a bone to chew a bone. It\u2019s the doing that matters, not the end result.<\/p>\n

And so it is in music. The point of guitar is to play guitar. It\u2019s to pull our focus to a single point.<\/p>\n

When we put our entire attention on a hard-but-not-too-hard challenge, time disappears. We connect with something beyond the chores and dramas of life. We call this \u201cflow<\/a>\u201d. Flow makes life feel meaningful, regardless of the product or outcome.<\/p>\n

But flow doesn\u2019t always feel flow-y. Sometimes it feels anything but. And this is the test.<\/p>\n

George Leonard said that to step onto the path of mastery is easy. To stay on the path of mastery takes work.<\/p>\n

And part of that work is forgiveness. Sure, we may skip a day, week, month or year. No matter. We can start again<\/a>. We have today.<\/p>\n

Whatever we can do today is enough for today. Small steps forward add up over time. Before we know it, years pass. Decades pass. And even then, we\u2019ll still face the option of picking up the guitar or not. We\u2019ll still have distractions. We\u2019ll still feel the push and pull.<\/p>\n

A life of music means doing what we can now, today. \u201cForever is composed of nows.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy! \u201cForever is composed of nows.\u201d Emily Dickinson When we first begin playing guitar, we dream of a life of music and challenge and fun. Loaded with enthusiasm, we gear up. We get an instrument. We dive into Youtube or buy some books. But … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2973,"featured_media":54059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tuesday-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\n[Quote] Emily Dickinson on How to Live a Life of Music<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emily Dickinson on How to Live a Life of Music\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy! \u201cForever is composed of nows.\u201d Emily Dickinson When we first begin playing guitar, we dream of a life of music and challenge and fun. Loaded with enthusiasm, we gear up. We get an instrument. We dive into Youtube or buy some books. But ... 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