Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year




If you want to excel at something (I’m thinking of a musical goal on the bassoon, but really, it can be anything), then you must attempt something much more difficult than your immediate objective.



Only by setting goals beyond what are possible will you improve.  If you exist within imaginable goals at all times, then you will never surprise anyone, least of all yourself.

And the things that are hard include things that you may despise and resist as being ugly, stupid, sententious, vain, impossibly ambitious or silly.  Again, I am talking about musical things on the bassoon, but I know the metaphor can reach beyond.

But it has to be really hard and it almost always involves enormous attention to detail.  And usually very few of your family and friends are gong to understand.  And there will be moments when it seems like a really bad idea.  And it may end up being a bad idea.  But when you can muster the forces to break through to the other side with even partial victory, then you will find yourself capable of new things.

Have a wonderful new year!!





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