Three years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to play a song on the guitar. And sing the song. And do both simultaneously.
Sarah McLachlan and everyone else at Lilith Fair make it look so easy. It’s not. It’s challenging and takes a whole lot of work. Particularly if you haven’t sung since fourth grade when you were politely told you were singing too low to be in the choir. And if the extent of your training in playing a musical instrument was the recorder lessons in elementary school.
But you know, I was/am in love with a guy. And he’s a musician and a songwriter. And I thought it would be super cool to sing him a song as a wedding gift. In private. I imagined I would just randomly bust into song some evening and shock him. Hopefully delight him too. I hoped he would get the intent of it. The work behind it. Because the final product was sure to be first rate amateur.
So I took lessons. And practiced. And had to listen to my own voice recorded singing – ouch! And I did it all in secret.
And I loved it. That was the surprising thing. Sure, it was really hard and I had no natural talent at any of it. But it was foreign and different and energizing. I was buzzed after every practice. The day I finally got the singing and playing at the same time thing together I could not stop grinning.
As imagined, I did bust out the guitar one night and sing my then fiance a song. And the shock value was priceless. As was the appreciation of my efforts.
That was three years ago and I can count on one hand the new things/skills I have tried since then. Windsurfing a few weeks ago when we were in the Caribbean. Snowshoeing a few winters ago. Does Crossfit count? I decided to switch things up last winter and get a lot of low lights in my hair. Does that count? I busted out the sewing machine for the first time since high school and sewed a cover for my nursing pillow last January (still can’t re-thread the machine on my own – shame on me!). Chris and I tried Segways when we were in Florence in the spring of 2009 (three months pregnant and passed out while we were Segway-ing around the Duomo – no damage done and retrospectively hilarious).
I want to learn to do things. Even if I am bad at them. New skills are a value-add on life. And fun. And good for my aging brain.
A few years ago I read an article on Neurobics or brain exercises. One of them was to brush your teeth with your weak hand. Have you tried it? Give it a whirl in the morning. I find it sets me up for more creative thinking (so does my Nespresso machine but that is for another day).
Not saying I’m going to start a large needle point. This is, after all, a blog about minimalism and I still have to deal with my ignored boxes of craft supplies in my de-cluttering. But I would like to take a class. Maybe a cooking class. Or ballet for adults. Or conversational French (Madame Thacker would be so proud!).
Hoping the emptying of my closets creates a clear space and time in my life to try new things.
You are awesome! I was just reading through an enormous booklet of pro-d opportunities and getting incredibly excited. Would love to sew w you sometime. I agree though that crafts are sort of the antithesis of minimalism. I have a few things to fix and would love to borrow a machine for a weekend but dread the inevitable mess that comes w that. Would love to take cooking classes w you. Maybe we could do that for our next Moms night out. I know they offer some at a shop at city square.
Nice writing Rachel! It’s good to be reminded to try new things:)