14th October 2016 - Feeding time

It's said that the more you practice the luckier you get.  I've always liked that saying.

It's very similar to "80% of success is showing up".

We tend to think of success as being down to the big things.  Maybe that's because movies and stories tend to revolve around big set pieces and ignore all the little but important things.  I'm sure that opening the Arc of the Covenant is a lot more cinematic than 'Indy .. the college/study years'.

I believe that by showing up things happen.  You're in the room when someone says 'does anyone know anything about ....?'  Now maybe you spent 20 years working away, learning but if you were under the duvet at the time that door wouldn't have opened for you.

When you don't show up nothing can happen.  When I wrote about starting to play flute in the 90's there just wasn't enough grist to that mill.  Not enough 'stuff' to keep up momentum.  This is why I'm chucking grist at that that the old flute gods  .. tunes, sessions, people, practice, lesson, comhaltas.  I'll write more about habits and nudges another time but - for now - enough to say that you don't stick at anything .. keep showing up at anything .. in a vacuum.  All good intentions and ideas fade over time unless you feed them.

A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us                       which are always at war with each other. 

One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery, love and excellent embouchure. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred, fear and unnecessary ornamentation.

The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”

The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed

So


Tonight I'm going to the 2016 Comhaltas Tour of Ireland, Macalla na hÉireann in Tullamore GAA.
Ciaran (potential tutor) will be performing.  No doubt a few others on the list I might eventually cross paths with.

From The Session I also found out a Kildare Pipers event tomorrow night.  Interestingly it's in the same house pictured on the cover of Christy Moore's Prosperous album