Practice

I love summer sunsets. I shot this one while on the way home this evening from mama-sitting. It was almost dark so I had to doctor it with Photoshop, but the contrast of red, magenta, and burnt orange against a dark blue sky can be breath taking.
This morning, Jilda and I practiced for our upcoming gig. Some of the songs are new for her, so it's taking some effort to get them down pat.
She usually picks up things so quickly that she can get frustrated when it takes time for her to assimilate.
I try to assure her that it takes a little while to get where you want to be, but she is impatient by nature and she promptly told me to shut up and keep playing.....which I did.
I love the process of practicing guitar. Many of the melodies we use in our songs comes from practice. I get lost in the rhythms, chords, and harmonics. Time seems to stand still.
You can experience this feeling with other things. For some people it's with sports, with others, it's dance; it's not uncommon to experience this feeling when you write, or paint.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book entitle "Flow" that explores this phenomena. I read it years ago, but it just popped into my mind as I was writing this entry.
The bottom line is this - doing something well, is rarely easy. I've heard people say - she (or he) is gifted. That may be so, but most people don't become exceptional at anything unless they practice. Practice takes time, so that means if you invest the time, then something has to slide. It all comes down to priorities.
I know that Jilda and I will get to where we need to be musically. It may take a little time, but for me, that's not a bad thing.