Saw you on Facebook

We all know we need to practice every day if we want to improve and grow and expand our technique, repertoire, and performance.  But it is so hard to find time to practice…and soon an entire week has gone by and you haven’t even looked at your harp.

I was chatting with someone recently and in our catching up she was telling me how busy she was and also that she wasn't seeing any improvement in her harp playing. 

There’s a lot going on.  We are all busy.  We have work, and home, and friends…and harp.  And it is difficult to fit practicing in every day.  And she’s not getting any better.

The kicker is, we were chatting on Facebook where she is a frequent poster*.  She always has time to post on Facebook and spends a great deal of time online each day.  I don’t know how she does it – keeping all the balls in the air!

I’m not denying anyone time on Facebook (or any other activity) – clearly I was on Facebook too since we were chatting.  It was the complaint about the lack of progress in the face of the very time consuming (and non-productive) activity that I found interesting.

In each day, in each moment, we choose how we spend our time.  As harpers we have chosen a beautiful, forgiving but demanding instrument.  It is a hobby or profession that requires much of us to move on and develop.  We either choose to work hard to get that reward or we must recognize that we do not get the prize without the fight.  The rewards are great – but the price is high. 

Does your ideal match your schedule?

* before you think it was you, this is actually a composite of people and conversations I have had recently – it’s not you, really, it’s someone else J