Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Who needs therapy when you have a blog?

I think we can all agree that Project Bananas is not going quite as I had planned. It's not that I'm not achieving my goals, per say, but I'm definitely not blogging about them in the way I'd hoped. In order for this all to be successful, there needs to be a record.

I actually spend a goodly amount of time thinking about Project Bananas and this blog. If there was a way to take blog entries that I compose on the treadmill directly from my brain to the screen, I would be prolific. Sadly, there is not, so I have to find a better way to manage this. I convince myself that I have too much to do, that there isn't enough time, and that my right to relax in the evening is paramount to everything.

But take this evening for instance. I went to the gym after work and got home at 6:30, ready to make dinner. It turned out that the pork tenderloin I defrosted was short ribs, so D and I had to quickly make an executive decision to cook them. While the ribs started in the oven, I practiced my violin. As we speak, the ribs continue to cook and I'm getting a blog post in. It's 7:45. Who says I don't have time?

My problem is that if I'm not doing 100%, then I want to give in. In a sense, practicing my violin every day is easier than 4-5 days a week because with daily practice there are no excuses. With 4-5 days, I can put a day off to do later and before I know it, I haven't practiced at all.

So Project Bananas: Become Violin Virtuoso continues until Sunday. I was unexpectedly out of town for the weekend, so that was a bust, but I practiced Monday and today (Wednesday) so far. I'm trying and it feels good.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Project Bananas: Week Four: Become Violin Virtuoso

The hope for Project Bananas: Become Violin Virtuoso was that it was achievable since I had a violin lesson last week and this week (usually they are every two weeks). The results were pretty good, but not as flawless as I had hoped. I practiced Monday, had my lesson Tuesday, practiced Thursday and Saturday. Upside? That's four days out of seven that I practice. Downside? What was my problem Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. It only takes 20 minutes to practice, at minimum, so I should be able to find time for that every day.

I'm struggling with trying to decide whether my expectations of myself are too high or I'm not trying hard enough. It felt good going into my violin lesson yesterday feeling like I was somewhat prepared, even though I'm still on a steep learning curve. I don't think practicing every single day is every going to be doable. But practicing 5 out of 7 days? I think that is very achievable.

So I think that maybe Project Bananas: Week Five will be an extension of Become Violin Virtuoso. I had my lesson yesterday and I haven't practiced today (cooking, doing my taxes, and website stuff occupied my attention). So that leaves five more days that I need to practice four of. I think I can do it.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Project Bananas: Week Four: Become Violin Virtuoso

This was supposed to be easier. I mean, I knew it would be a challenge, and that was the whole point. But I never had any idea that it would be this hard this soon. It's been one thing after another. First I was traveling, then I was sick, then I was traveling again.

What I keep reminding myself is that the whole point of this project is to push myself into achieving more. The success rate is not going to be 100%, and that's ok.

So, week four. As it turns out, this has actually started pretty well. I restarted taking violin lessons at the beginning of the year after 10 years of lessons followed by 10 years of not playing. My lessons were my Christmas gift from my parents. I thought that it would be way easier this time around because as an adult I`m more responsible now and I might actually practice once or twice. Turns out, I`m no more responsible than I was 10 years ago.

Project Bananas: Week Four is Become (a) Violin Virtuoso which is to say I`m going to try to practice almost every day. I practiced on Monday, had my lesson on Tuesday, worked late on Wednesday (so no practice), and practice tonight (Thursday). Three out of four nights isn`t bad. I think I may actually be able to pull this one off.