How would you consider achievement? All at once or step by step?
We usually like to cover things at once. Sometimes that works. But mostly you must follow a path that will take you where you want to be.
The most important part of the progress is beginning the job. And beginning means in fact having a roadmap to proceed. This plan may of course change as you go. It should. This is life and life is dynamic. As I told in one of my previous posts, through the path, keeping your mind busy with the subject will lead you during your journey. Here is what I said:
Keep tasks as small as possible. Do them periodically. Have a rhythm. This will let your brain work on the process continuously, even when you are in sleep. So the more you work on your little tasks, the more they will gather to turn into a bundle of useful achievements… As the time passes… And enough of the work is done.
This is step by step progress
It is like climbing the stairs up one by one. You can also take two or three steps at once and that is OK. But you can’t climb to the top all at once.
After waiting for years to play an instrument again and at last finding a way to my dream, I planned my first visit to the DoRe Music Academy. This was an essential step. I was going to meet the music teacher who organized cello lessons there.
I was so excited. And as soon as I saw her I understood that a new episode began in my life. With her smiling face she made me feel so comfortable that I soon found myself telling her about my journey. She must have heard lots of stories from her students, I guess. But for me, after years, she was the first music professional I got into touch. So I was trying to tell everything at once 🙂
This happens to me often:
When I know by heart that something is right for me, I proceed quickly in giving decisions. This is because I’ve spent enough time on thinking and dreaming the matter and my heart is ready to accept the coming signs. You may think I’m hurrying. It seems so, I accept, but throughout my life I have always made progress when I have given my decisions immediately. So dream big, think lot and decide quickly is my motto. That works for me and after years of experience I know how to adjust the details about my decisions. I can fine-tune them when necessary. This’s acceptable as long as the general pattern matches.
So that day when I met my teacher and had a conversation with her, I decided to start. We together made a lesson plan with one hour a week schedule.
She recommended that a fabricated Rösler cello would be okay for a student to begin and I ordered the instrument. That was really like a dream. In three days time, I was going to have a violoncello, an instrument that I only saw live in orchestras during the concerts. Can you see how many steps I took? Just a week ago from that day, none of these were of deal.
And this is step by step hesitation:
“Am I going too fast?”, I asked myself. I know those moments of hesitation. Though I’ve really worked on the subject before the decision, at least by thoroughly thinking, I was trying to take back steps. No. Giving up have never made me feel better. Rather, I have always made progress by going forward in times of hesitation.
After seconds of inner talk I found myself encouraged and stepped forward. I didn’t know how many steps that corresponded to, I couldn’t measure. I just moved some steps. Today looking back I just say: Thank God, that I walked.
Three days after the conversation with my teacher, I received my instrument from the music shop. It was a Rösler 3/4 cello. Since I’m a petite person, it would be a right decision to start with a 3/4 sized instrument. As you guess, it is a bit shorter and smaller than a regular cello. Violoncellos have different sizes suitable for different ages and body sizes of people.
Here is Özge Nemutlu
What a coincidence that my teacher was also a petite woman. She graduated from Gazi University Department of Music and she was the first and only student who played 3/4 cello in that school. She had to struggle hard to convince her lecturers to accept the idea of letting her play that size of instrument. It was not an easy deal. But she made it… As a great woman.
Although she went through hard times, she paved the way for those who came after her. It was my good luck to meet a teacher who knew how to adjust a body shape that did not anatomically fit a cello. I was going to be educated by an experienced person who would always encourage me in cases of anatomical difficulties… Since she very well knew the disadvantages, and the techniques to overcome them.
I would give up. I would prefer not to take the challenge. Cello is a difficult instrument to learn and play. Besides, I was not physically so convenient for it. But I quickly got the hint: It was possible. It just required hard work. That hard work was not practising for hours a day. I couldn’t, because I had a job with lots of duties to earn my living. The hard work was accepting the journey as a whole, with its difficulties and joy. I didn’t know in detail which next steps to take. That was not important. I was going to live and see. Live and learn.
This is what makes a journey exciting: You’ll always meet surprises. Don’t be afraid if you can’t foresee the steps or plan them carefully. That’s almost impossible. Just be sure that, you’ll always know which next step to take once you are on the road.
So I let the journey begin
It’s all about the right size of instrument, a talented teacher equipped with necessary skills and a willing student ready to take the steps one by one, patiently, without giving up. I think that day these three came together. I’m so happy to be Özge Nemutlu‘s student.
My teacher not only had the right skills to teach but also impressed me with her personal characteristics. She had a charming look with a smiling face and a musical voice. I dreamed myself being her student. I was sure we were going to have good time together.
For me, stories are more important than achievements. An achievement is nothing if there is not an impressing story behind it. I did not aim to be a virtuoso, what I wanted was having good time with music and building musical stories for my life. I wanted to take the steps one by one, turning the experience to a joyful journey and adding inspiring stories for both myself and my auidence.
Hey! This is the first time I used the word audience. I’m really surprised. I didn’t think to mention it, it just spilled. So why not talking about it in the coming post? See, blogging is also a journey and once you begin, that flow leads you to the next step. Let’s follow the sign.