My brother is a musician. He started playing guitar when he was thirteen years old, and started writing songs in 2018. I’m so proud of him.
But you know what? Years ago, when he was maybe fourteen or fifteen, he took a month long break from music. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to play anymore. He stopped going to lessons that month, and didn’t touch his guitar. He nearly quit playing all together.
Thankfully he decided to return to taking music lessons, and that’s when his teacher told him something that has stuck with me ever since I heard about it.
His teacher said, and I’m paraphrasing here: “There are three elements that make you good at guitar. You have to have at least two of them, or you will never be successful at it.
You have to love doing it.
You have to practice. A lot.
You have to be naturally talented at it.
If you love it and practice a lot, you can become a great guitarist. If you are naturally talented and practice a lot, you can become a great guitarist. If you are naturally talented and love doing it, you can become a great guitarist. If you love it, practice a lot, and are naturally talented, then you could become a great guitarist. But if you only have one of those elements, you have nothing. If you have natural talent, but don’t practice and don’t love doing it, then you won’t get very far, and vice versa.”
I have believed that these words were true since the day I heard them. And I think that it can be used for many things in life. Baking. Dancing. Acting. Writing. The list goes on.
Sometimes when I have some sort of hobby in my life, I run through that simple algorithm just to make sure it is what I really want.
Do I love to crochet?
I did at first but not really anymore…
Do I practice a lot?
No, not really since I bought all that yarn.
Am I naturally talented?
Not really, no.
And after that brief consideration I get the normally correct idea that it is time to let go of that hobby and declutter my space.
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. I’m not saying that you should quit something that is important just because it came out in no’s in the algorithm. Sorry guys. You should keep practicing math for that big test coming up. Even if it doesn’t seem fun.
What I am trying to say is that if you really want to get good at something, you should really consider your motives, and be ready to persevere and work hard. This can take discipline, but in the end if it is what you really want, then you can achieve it.
I remember many times over the years since then that my mom would introduce this algorithm to my younger siblings or remind us of it when we were struggling with keeping up at a hobby that just was slowly dying.
The reason I bring it up here is that the arts are a very common place I see hobbyists struggling. Some continue on until it isn’t just a hobby but a natural part of their life to express emotion or to glorify the Creator. But others seem to whither. Some of this withering could be stopped, I think, if there was proper community to encourage and help hobbyists thrive in their craft, but that’s another topic for another day.
For now, if you are currently struggling in your writing, music, or other artform, I want you to ask yourself those three questions. Maybe in the end you will find that you just need a break. Or maybe you’ll find that _______ just isn’t your thing, and that your ready to move onto something new. Or maybe you will find that what you most need is a new rhythm to approach your craft in.
I don’t know about you, but these simple questions have helped me prioritize things in many different circumstances, and I think that it just might help you out as well.
I want to end with a warning though. Don’t quit a craft just because you are currently stuck. That is the time you need to push through and persevere. Because if you work hard and give it all you’ve got, you might just find yourself somewhere better than you thought. Somewhere new.