Lately I've been living life one bar at a time with no hangover.
Last year I decided to pick up my guitar again and I was overwhelmed since I hadn't played in many years.
As a youngster I would listen to my eldest brother Dan play classical guitar everyday. Those beautiful ringing notes are forever ingrained in my mind and I remember how classical music relaxed me and soothed my soul when I was a hyper-active-pimpled-faced-teenager.
So this year I started to learn all the classic songs I've always loved: from Bach, to Tarrega, to Barrios, Carcassi and Fernando Sor.
At first I thought I couldn't play these brilliant compositions from the masters.
So I took it one bar (measure) at a time.
Do less get more done. I know it sounds like an insane concept, when we are all pressed to produce quantity over quality.
Everyday I would learn and memorize one bar of music. That's all. It took me a few minutes each day, and it would make me happy. "I can't believe these notes fit together" I would say to myself or "how come I can't play that easy part, but the difficult part is a breeze?"
Each grace note serves a purpose: listening and feeling each one of them in-between the melody makes the composition whole and complete.
Today I have 12 polished tunes that I love to play everyday. That astounds even me.
I have also applied this with learning Spanish, one word a day and you can do it with whatever you're passionate about whether it's learning an instrument, a new language or trying to understand Microsoft Word (Ok, Ok, I won't bash MS Word too much.)
Looking at a complete score can be overwhelming, almost like an artist staring at a blank canvas not knowing where or how to begin. But we should take life one brush stroke at a time, slow down and enjoy the process and not get flustered racing for the finish.
If we savor each note we can enjoy the journey and our composition of life becomes an epic masterpiece.
