I took this self portrait with a film camera, a tri-pod, and a self timer when I was 16. Something about the soft light, the blur of my hands, the look of utter concentration on my 16 year old face, reminds me that everything is still possible.
When I was five I told my parents that I wanted to play the harp.
They looked at each other and then at me and said, “Play the piano first.”
So I did. My piano teacher was named Ms. Kitty and she was a strict, Christian lady who made me count out loud every time I played. To this day, I still count to myself when I practice. To this day, Ms. Kitty still sends me letters asking me if I’m playing the piano.
When I was nine, I told my parents, “I play the piano. Now I want to play the harp.”
A harp teacher was offering discounted group lessons after school in the music room. So they signed me up.
And that first day, as I walked into that room ready to proudly start playing the harp, there were kids who had already been playing the harp for one year. While I fumbled around trying to figure out which string was what note, they breezed through melodies, plucked out tunes, performed fancy glissandos.
I felt that I had missed the boat. Why hadn’t my parents let me play the harp when I was seven? I would have been playing for almost three years by now and I would have been so good, I would probably be able to play in youth orchestra.
It was going to take me forever to catch up.
This is how I felt at age 10.
And this is also how so many of us feel at age 20, 30, 40, even 60. We didn’t start an instrument, our careers, a language at some magical age, 10? 17? 20? and our brain went into lockdown and whatever talents we managed to eck out by sheer luck and childhood fancy, are the ones that we are destined with forever. If we haven’t learned music, mastered a language, become a writer, we never will.
Thus the people who sigh, “I wish had learned the piano when I was young. It would be such a great talent to have.”
And the others that pine, “If only they had offered Spanish in school when I was ten. I would be bilingual.”
And me who shouts, “Shut up and starting practicing!” Because piano playing and language speaking might be easier at younger ages, but they can come greatly at any age if you decide to sit down, practice, and persist.
If you start playing the harp diligently each day when you’re forty, by the time you’re sixty you will have twenty years of harp playing under your belt. You’ll probably be able to play in the symphony, all before you’ve reached the ripe old retirement age of 65.
Speaking of jobs, if you completely switched careers at age 40, you have 25 years to pursue and perfect your new job until retirement. And if you start working at 25 (the average time we all start), and consider that it takes 15 years to become a jedi master at whatever you do, you’ll have enough room to perfect three different careers in your lifetime.
I challenge you to stop the job you hate, and find the one you love right now.
I challenge you to listen to that song that you love and learn how to play it.
Because we’re never too old to start doing the things that we love
Your blog makes me feel hopeful! Hope the coding is going well!
Thanks for reading Marla! The coding was going well, but I’ve been so busy… still working on it. I’m going to try to make it to hack night next Tuesday! Perhaps I’ll see you there?
You have this great capacity to put my mind at ease. Sending another “thank you” your way, this time from my desk at my very first job — you might remember I was hopelessly unemployed at the beginning of the year.
Lauren, your posts have impeccable timing. Thanks for reminding me that I can always learn something new.
Yea! Thank you so much for reading. I think we all need a reminder that we’re never locked into any one thing and that there are so many possibilities.
Yea! I’m so happy you found a job. What are you doing? I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot. Enjoy
What inspired me to write this post was that so many of us think of our careers with such heaviness, that each job we take is etched in our destiny. To shift that mindset, to understand the lightness of life and endless opportunity we have to reinvent ourselves- that’s what I love. That’s what I care about.
Good to hear from you again!
I work at a museum! Office admin, really, but I do get to spend time in the galleries once in a while. (A-w-e-s-o-m-e.) Your post came to me on one of those days I felt like I was going to be typing out database spreadsheets forever. It’s great be reminded of the possibilities ahead.
You have to pay your dues for work in museums– it’s super competitive. Congrats on the new job and keep looking ahead!
I’m still learning to get more fluent in Spanish & French. I’m gonna do it!
Have you head of Live Mocha? I heard their courses are whatever, but they offer you the chance to talk with native speakers online!
My biggest realization this year has been my lifelong resistance to discipline. I used to think that having a daily routine (read: practice) was boring and that it would zap my creativity and spontaneous nature. But that has only set me up to be a “Jack of all trades and the master of none.” A renewed devotion to my yoga practice has helped me tremendously with softening into a routine with passion. It’s the same thing every day and I welcome it because I finally get to experience progress. Great post!
It’s interesting that you bring up routine as potentially being a block to creativity. I know a lot of people feel this way (I do too!) but you can also view it as giving you room to be creative within those boundaries. How can you shift your routine? How can you make your routine the same but different? What new things can you discover?
It’s the reason why poets write sonnets and haiku– how can we discover creativity within these boundaries?
It’s good to hear from you Sharon! How is everything going with your yoga/blog/mixologist ventures? We should get a drink sometime. You’re in the marigny too, right?