Insufficient practice
Along the way I have heard a certain axiom that says that if you practice enough you too can master an instrument. The statement is often that all you need is 10,000 hours of practice. So I’ve decided to give my own take on this. I will listen to a good video of someone playing and say to myself: there but for the missing 10,000 of hours of practice go I. It makes me feel better because I’ve had a lifetime to become a master of an instrument. And I haven’t with rare exceptions. I have some guitars around here that I can fiddle with and then I can make do little things but I am far from being a star in any context. I blame that on my guitar teacher when I was 10 years old. Now if you count the hours since then I’ve had time. I just have not put the effort into it. I guess I am doomed to listen to videos and keep reassuring myself after all they’ve already done it why couldn’t I. I was outside a little earlier with some dog biscuits and the shadow appeared on the lawn still. So I threw a biscuit and I saw the shadow flash away towards the trees but not before I heard the snick snick snick a very tiny sharp teeth taking the biscuit as a souvenir of the visit. My own dog used to come and get the biscuits but never with such finesse. And for those that are worried with my upsetting the environment I sometimes throw a single or double pair of very cheap dog biscuits out on the lawn and someone else picks them up. No great conversation between us although I have heard a single bark more often just a flash as the tail and the head move in harmony towards the tree line. I love living in the country. I also spent some more time learning about life in the coal mining districts of well the South. Listening to someone who’s worked for more than 30 years underground in the worst of conditions and he’s proud because he is now making close to $60,000 a year in return for a 66 hour work week. He doesn’t mention his training time he just says well I should have done better in school I guess. He does mention that disease is now at his doorstep but he refuses to wear a mask against coal dust because the mask gets plugged up with dust it makes it hard to breathe. There might be something in that to give you a better sign of what you’re doing. I mean since you can’t actually see what’s going on in the darkness.
