I remember being a college student with all the ideas in the world. I was learning so much about media, technology, and theology and I was pretty confident in my abilities. I am not faulting my younger self for what I did not know; I was doing the best I could with what I had. I was in school learning about different subjects and really learning how to learn. Those are important skills.
But, information and experience are not the same thing. Experience is a great teacher that allows us to really grow and change (if we let it). The truth is that some things just take time to learn. I feel like my mid-twenties to early thirties have been all about experience and the opportunity to learn. I say opportunity because it takes works to actually learn from experience. It takes some internal fortitude and drive to take those experiences and use them to learn and grow. If I am being honest, there are experiences that I have had over the last decade that I am still not facing or making different choices; I’m running the same play thinking it will offer a different outcome.
Learning from Experience
Other areas are less scary though and I can see how far I have come. One of those areas that has really come about recently is music and playing guitar. I mentioned in a previous post that I was playing music in a local band and that we are in the studio working on our first album. It feels like something for me that has been in the making for so much longer than I have actually been playing with the band (We are called Rare Fiction BTW, new album out later this year).
I have been playing with Rare Fiction for about 6 months, but I as I write guitar parts I am pulling in things I have learned about playing electric guitar for years. I remember spending hours in college playing guitar and working on different parts and learning different technique. Those memories came flooding back the other night at practice when I played a part and I could feel it in my hands. It was like riding a bike or finding a lost pair of shoes. It just felt right. It was the perfect combination of information (I learned something about guitar) and experience (I had been practicing that technique for a decade). The combination of experience over time resulted in something magical on the recording that felt like it was “in the moment” but it was really a culmination of work and time and repetition.
Don’t discount the process
Experience is not something that is always up-and-to-the-right. It’s ups and downs. It’s learning, failing, mourning, siting, deciding, and then getting back up again. You and I have the chance to let experience shape or break us every day. We are creating a soundtrack to our lives that either says, “I am capable of learning and growing” or “this is me, and there will never be any more than this.” I am trying to make the soundtrack of my life one that is capable of growth and movement. This is not always a success (there are some areas where I am pretty stubborn), but I am taking the wins as they come and celebrating experience and growth when they come.
Don’t discount your experiences. Even negative or painful experiences can still help shape you into the person you want to become. I am grateful for something like playing guitar because I can see that trajectory over time. I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years at this point, so I can look back and see the growth and the ups and downs as I have grown as a musician and a person. I am grateful for that process (which has included injury and pain) because it has all helped shape me into the person I am today.
But, information and experience are not the same thing. Experience is a great teacher that allows us to really grow and change (if we let it). The truth is that some things just take time to learn. I feel like my mid-twenties to early thirties have been all about experience and the opportunity to learn. I say opportunity because it takes works to actually learn from experience. It takes some internal fortitude and drive to take those experiences and use them to learn and grow. If I am being honest, there are experiences that I have had over the last decade that I am still not facing or making different choices; I’m running the same play thinking it will offer a different outcome.
Learning from Experience
Other areas are less scary though and I can see how far I have come. One of those areas that has really come about recently is music and playing guitar. I mentioned in a previous post that I was playing music in a local band and that we are in the studio working on our first album. It feels like something for me that has been in the making for so much longer than I have actually been playing with the band (We are called Rare Fiction BTW, new album out later this year).
I have been playing with Rare Fiction for about 6 months, but I as I write guitar parts I am pulling in things I have learned about playing electric guitar for years. I remember spending hours in college playing guitar and working on different parts and learning different technique. Those memories came flooding back the other night at practice when I played a part and I could feel it in my hands. It was like riding a bike or finding a lost pair of shoes. It just felt right. It was the perfect combination of information (I learned something about guitar) and experience (I had been practicing that technique for a decade). The combination of experience over time resulted in something magical on the recording that felt like it was “in the moment” but it was really a culmination of work and time and repetition.
Don’t discount the process
Experience is not something that is always up-and-to-the-right. It’s ups and downs. It’s learning, failing, mourning, siting, deciding, and then getting back up again. You and I have the chance to let experience shape or break us every day. We are creating a soundtrack to our lives that either says, “I am capable of learning and growing” or “this is me, and there will never be any more than this.” I am trying to make the soundtrack of my life one that is capable of growth and movement. This is not always a success (there are some areas where I am pretty stubborn), but I am taking the wins as they come and celebrating experience and growth when they come.
Don’t discount your experiences. Even negative or painful experiences can still help shape you into the person you want to become. I am grateful for something like playing guitar because I can see that trajectory over time. I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years at this point, so I can look back and see the growth and the ups and downs as I have grown as a musician and a person. I am grateful for that process (which has included injury and pain) because it has all helped shape me into the person I am today.