Last year, I connected with a neighbor who is on the approach to leaving his career as a top professional in his field of medicine. He told me that he’d put himself through medical school as a professional musician. I shared with him about the group I play with and suggested he check it out.
Over the months, he told me that he was interested, but his instrument was broken. Then he mentioned that he was so rusty. This went on several times until I told him that if he was measuring himself against his abilities from his 20s and 30s, he was looking at this entirely wrong. The object of playing now is very simple… it’s to have FUN!
Since that conversation, he has accompanied me to one rehearsal to check out the group and get a feel for it. The other day, he called to check on the upcoming rehearsal schedule, and he told me that he really needed that mindset adjustment and was approaching his reemergence from a more productive angle. He knew that if he continued to compare then and now, surely only misery and frustration would follow.
He’s excited!
I’m thrilled!!
