Lest you think I’ve been perfect in my self-improvement this week: I haven’t
logged my food on MyFitnessPal all week. It’s an exercise in imperfection. MyFitnessPal tracks my recording “streak”: how many consecutive days I’ve
logged my food and completed my diary. In the past, to maintain my streak of over 100 days, I’ve lied,
just putting in a general calorie count so I could "complete" the day’s diary. But last
week I decided that was silly. No one is checking up on me, and is a streak
meaningful if I’ve fibbed about it?
So, my streak today will be two days. I’m not overeating, which is the main point, right?
I must be on a self-improvement jag. Last week I decided to
start up my piano lessons again. My good friend and piano teacher, Cami,
started a major house renovation two years ago and took a break from teaching. Since her house project finished, I’ve
felt like I haven’t had time to practice, but decided that signing up for
lessons was the way to start again. I had my first lesson last Monday and when I got home, I dropped my music book bag by the door. Three days ago I
picked it back up to take it to my second lesson. Yup! My music didn’t
even make it into the piano. I wanted to cancel my second lesson, since I
wasn’t prepared, but remembered something Matt suggested years ago, when I started taking lessons the first time. I resisted starting, worried that I wouldn't practice and would waste the lesson money. He asked if I could consider the lessons as the full musical experience. My teacher at the time said she had adult students
using just that strategy: their progress was slow but perceptible.
When I admitted to Cami that I hadn’t practiced, she said with glee, “Practice as the lesson. Sometimes those are the best.” We had a
great session and talked about some strategies to get me to the piano between
lessons.
Cami suggested leaving a music book open on the piano, so it is easy to sit down and play for a few minutes. And
to plan to do one part of the lesson on one day. Both of those seem really
tailored to me. Getting my books out of the bag is a barrier. And I’ve
always thought I had to go through the whole lesson in order: scales, exercises, piano
piece, hymn. That daunting list keeps me from starting. So what if scales
are ‘supposed to’ be to warm up my fingers. Better to work on a piece than do
nothing. (Sounds like my dust mopping all over again.)
One reason I resist taking lessons, if I’m not practicing at home, is the memory from my high school
days. I played viola and most weeks didn’t practice at all at home. I was
very good at sight-reading, so the lessons weren’t a complete disaster. Now I wonder, for the first time, did Dr. Scott know? He never said anything, but
he was a very mild, shy, and non-confrontational kind of guy. I did improve, through my weekly lesson.
I resist repeating that method. I'm embarrassed by my history. Now, in my perfectionism, I find the easiest course is just to give up lessons rather than face my choices. The best way to avoid a repetition of the viola experience is to actually practice during the week. Will it be a priority this week?
Posts
