Insights Gained From Playing the Harp
By Susan Knight | Relating the learning experience from a harp course to life in general.
Written by Susan Knight | Seeking Veritas Columnist | Sankarsingh-Gonsalves Productions
I’m currently enrolled in an online harp course with more than 100 men and women attending from around the world. It’s incredible to see so many people from a variety of backgrounds all connecting around a shared passion for the harp. As we meet online for our weekly class, I can’t help but appreciate the power of modern technology and the opportunities it affords for learning and self-development. And as I delve more deeply into the course, I can’t help but reflect on how the learning experience relates to life in general.
Change may be difficult; but recognizing the cost of NOT changing is a powerful motivator.
While the course I’m taking might not be overly difficult in terms of the substance of what it covers, it’s difficult in the sense that:
I have to unlearn habits I’ve been relying on for years.
I have to learn new concepts that are completely unfamiliar to me.
I have to put in a considerable amount of work to solidify these new concepts.
What’s motivating me to see it through to the end? After more than ten years of playing, I’m at a point where my progress has slowed down considerably, a discouraging and worrying trajectory I don’t want to be on.
Up until now, my approach has been to learn a piece of music, then play it from memory. This worked well for several years. But as I continued to learn more pieces, and as I moved from beginner pieces to more complex intermediate pieces, the situation changed. Gradually, all the pieces I knew started to blend together in my head, making it hard to play old pieces, and increasingly difficult to learn new ones. Along with the discouragement of watching my progress slow down, I also became increasingly worried over my waning memory and reduced learning capacity.
The course offers a novel approach for reading music quickly and efficiently. This in turn makes it easier to actively read the music while playing it, thereby eliminating the need to memorize it. Even if the course proves challenging at times, that’s preferable compared to the alternative of not changing anything and remaining on that discouraging and worrying trajectory.
In any area of life, change is almost certain to be difficult in some way. It might be the challenge of letting go of self-sabotaging beliefs and unhealthy patterns of behaviour. It might be the fear of stepping into the unknown as we embark on a new path. It might be the disorientation that arises as we evaluate our identity and sense of self. Whatever the situation, recognizing the cost associated with NOT changing is a powerful motivator, as it gives you a personally meaningful reason to press on with the change even when it’s difficult.
It’s never too late in life to try something new.
While my harp class has students of all ages, the average age skews a bit older. It’s encouraging to see people in their 70s and older willing to step out and try something new, as they pick up the harp for the first time in their life.
It’s not that these older learners don’t have any fears or reservations. They often express concern about their capacity to learn new skills, and how readily (or not so readily) they’ll be able to do so. But they’re willing to dive in and give it a try regardless. What’s especially touching is when these older learners share about how they’ve wanted to play the harp since they were young, but it wasn’t feasible due to life circumstances and obligations getting in the way. It’s wonderful to see these individuals filled with energy and enthusiasm, as they adopt a “better late than never” attitude and commit to giving it a go.
Will these older learners go on to play in symphony orchestras? Probably not. Will they become expert harpists? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Even if they don’t reach an advanced level of playing, that doesn’t lessen the joy they’ll experience (and impart to others) as they do what they can, as best they can. Nor does it lessen the satisfaction they’ll get from seeing the results yielded from the work and effort they put in. This serves as a reminder that there are occasions in life where it’s okay to simply relax and enjoy the process, without putting undue pressure on ourselves to meet some arbitrary or externally imposed standard.
Trying something new brings additional options and possibilities into view.
Of course, some of those budding harp players might be surprised by the progress they make. But in many cases, the most important gain will have less to do with their actual harp playing and more to do with the boost in their self-confidence, which will then pave the way for them to pursue other endeavours. Haven’t we all experienced that at some point in our lives? When we venture out into new territory to try something new, our confidence and sense of self-efficacy grows.
The process of trying something new also has a way of bringing additional options and possibilities into view that weren’t visible to us beforehand. Oftentimes, this includes options and possibilities we wouldn’t have seriously considered or perhaps even entertained previously.
It’s exciting to think that whenever we try something new that takes us into unfamiliar territory, we never know just where it will take us. Even when things don’t go as planned or we don’t achieve the exact outcomes we hoped for, each goal we work towards plays a role in steering us as we navigate the winding path of life.
About the author: Susan Knight | SGP Featured Writer | Contact the author: @ http://skfreelance.com
Susan is certified health and wellness coach with a focus on personal growth and inner wellness. She was a regular contributor to Social Work Today Magazine and is a featured Health & Wellness Columnist for SGP.
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