Falling and Flying

I write a lot about falling and failing.  And the reason I do is that the only way we can learn in most cases is to learn from our failures.  Thus our journey continues.

I’m becoming a fan of Neil Gaiman.  He says this in The Sandman, Vol. 6:  Fables and Reflections

“Sometimes you wake up.  Sometimes the fall kills you.  And sometimes, when you fall you fly.”

Let us focus on the falling and flying part today.

Did you know the post-it-note was a failure in attempting to discover a new glue formula for envelopes?  And the world is now covered in these handy pieces of paper.

The ice cream cone was invented when a waffle guy ran out of paper plates at the 1904 World’s Fair.  What a failure, yet what an invention.

Babe Ruth was the strike-out king.  He was also a home-run king.

Your mistakes do not define who you are.

I dropped my drum sticks the first time I carried a snare drum in marching band.  I am still considered a pretty good and steady drummer.

Learning happens after a fall.

Flying happens after a fall.

Be encouraged!

One Good Practice Day

Today, perhaps, was one good practice day for you and me.  Tomorrow may be the day from hell, but today … today was good.

Today I wrote well, I swung my club with ease

and accuracy, I used my bow with such fluidity, and the slide on my trombone seemed to glide on angel’s wings.

Today was a good practice day.

And that makes all the difference. 

When I have a day like today, it helps me face those tomorrow’s when I seem to have two left feet, when the strings sound like demons instead of angels, when the ball slices to places I’ve never been and never intended to go. 

If I can string enough good days together, I think I can master this thing called talent, or skill, or craft or whatever it is one might call what I do.

I will always remember – on good practice days nothing else matters.

Absolutely nothing.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Take a Risk

Go ahead.  Take a risk. 

Sit down at the keyboard, or drums; pull out your clarinet or tuba; take a few whacks at the ball with your trusty seven-iron.

Take a risk.

Take a big risk.

Attempt to get better.  Improve.  Master a rough spot in your skill.

Life is a risk.  We don’t get anywhere by ignoring the risks.  We acknowledge them, and go and do the thing anyway.

Yes, there are risks.

You might not improve at all. 

You might hurt yourself by swinging too hard, losing your balance, bruising your lips or fingers or falling off the chair.

You might – but I doubt it.

You might get better.

You might improve and be inspired to come back another day for a risk-taking session.

Now wouldn’t that be something?

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Just Show Up

Today is my day to write five blogs.  Now is the time that I have set aside in my schedule to do this.  Thursday nights is another night that I specifically devote to writing.  Sometimes the ideas flow well, and at other times I question whether I am a writer at all. 

And I show up.

And so should you.  If you are like most individuals who practice some kind of craft, not every day, not every session and not every stroke is to perfection. 

Yet we show up.  We show up and apply our hand to our craft in an attempt to make it better.  We strike the tympani head one more time, we pluck the harp string again and again, and we choose our trusty nine-iron for yet one more swing in pursuit of perfection. 

We start our work with discipline and diligence, and then we wait for inspiration to show up.  Everyone loves inspiration.  Playing an A-scale is easy when inspiration abounds.  I can write like Hemingway when inspiration shows up.

And I write anyway.  I show up and do the task at hand because that is what I do.  I hope for inspiration, yet I practice diligence and discipline.

And so should you.

The main point is this:

Just show up.

  

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Touches

Here’s a picture for you.  Imagine a small room perhaps no larger than a triple-size closet, and inside of this closet is a young

soccer wanna-be. 

She practices ball control, kicks, stops, spins and all other kinds of ‘tricks’ that every good soccer player desires to master.

My point is this – she touches the ball thousands of times per hour compared to playing on a regulation soccer field.  And it is the number of touches that matter.

How many ‘touches’ do you make on your craft?  Do you play a clarinet?  How many times do you touch it, pick it up, and finger a few passages?  The same is true when holding a golf club, drum sticks, or any other craft that requires some kind of touch connection point.

And the more touches you get to do the better for your skill development. 

It’s all about building touch sensation, finger dexterity, foot control, and ultimately it boils down to building muscle memory.

Playing on a regulation size field is great, however, to become a ‘star’ on that field, first you need thousands and tens of thousands of touch moments in whatever your craft might be.

Touch is a good thing – a very good thing.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

What Lies Within

The art of creativity intrigues me.  The ability to make something that has never existed before is really a delightful prospect.  Artists do it every time they face an empty canvas.  And so do musicians, writers, singers, composers and the list goes on.

Attorneys in a court of law are creators.  They create scenes in your mind of what might or might not have happened.  Do you believe?

Last night Carolyn and I went to a jazz club here in Seattle.  Three performers – Monte Alexander-piano, Jeff Hamilton-drums, and John Clayton-bass created amazing moments as they each wove their skills in with each other.  I just have to believe, though they talk through the musical roadmap, they create a lot of space for the creative spark to come forth, and come forth it did.

Sort of reminds me of this great Ralph Waldo Emerson quote.

 Are you letting out whatever it is that lies within you?

Creativity can be found in every venture in life.  I am a people person.  I seek out creative interplay every day with every person I meet.  I don’t use the same greeting with each one.  I use variety, and it depends on my past experiences with that person and how I perceive them if they are new to me.

Find that spark that lies within.  Give birth to your own unique brand of creativity.  Show the world what you’ve got.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Have Fun

Sometimes we lose sight of the ‘fun’ aspect of practicing our craft.  If it isn’t fun, then what is it all about?  And I do mean that.

I am a writer – four books published, and six blog sites on which I write every week.  One of those blog sites is A Time for Rhyme.  It is a poem site and has nonsensical, silly, and sometimes ridiculous poems that I’ve written.  It is not meant to change anyone’s life.  It is just fun.  

F U N

When is the last time you had fun with your

talent?  Perhaps you are a master craftsman on the violin, or at golf, or soccer or any other activity you pursue.  But do you have fun?  Fun is a state of mind.  It is an attitude of “I’ll do this and enjoy the journey.  I’ll make mistakes and learn, and try some new things as I go along.”

I played a bit of golf in my younger years, though I was never a great golfer.  What made it worse were some of the players with whom I played.  These guys were better at hitting the ball, had better clubs and really practiced their art of golf.  Me?  I was there for the fun of the game.  I enjoyed being outdoors, being with friends and taking a nice stroll around the golf course.  And occasionally I might even hit the ball.

You would have thought it was the Master’s Tournament they way they tried to coach me, prompt me, correct me, and when none of that worked, they resorted to mockery.  On more than one occasion I was reduced to tears as a youngster on the golf course. 

That is NOT a picture of having fun.  That is torture.

So, whatever you pursue, be sure and add the ‘fun’ element to it.  Neil Gaiman is a writer whose words I love.  He reminds us of this.

“… and don’t forget to make some art.  Write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.  And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

I LOVE that.

That gives me license to HAVE FUN!

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student