I had a conversation with a friend recently, whose photography I greatly admire, about posting work that we aren’t necessarily satisfied with.  The idea of the process as practice.  I know that I have a long way to go before I feel more confident in my abilities, or before I like what I have made, but I also have learned that sometimes you just have to do the thing in order to learn from it.  Plus, knowing that other people are going to see your work is a great motivator for working towards improvement. The evidence of progress can also be a learning tool.

I know from experience.  Over the years that I have practiced my singing, having the recordings of my lessons has been immensely helpful.  Partly as a tool for when I want to revisit something that I have learned, and partly as a frame of reference for how far I have come.   I used to hate the sound of my voice. I hated listening to the recordings, the process of editing the audio was excruciating.  I knew enough about music to recognize the mistakes, but not enough information about how to fix them. That I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be, but not yet how to get there.  Over time that changed.  I worked on it.  I listened.  As I improved I started to like the sound of my voice.  Or at least, not to hate it so much.  I grew in confidence in my abilities. I had developed the tool box I needed to know how to fix the problems.  I had developed skill that made the problems that needed fixing less common.

Unfortunately, it’s not like you become a good singer and then get to stop practicing.  You develop a set of skills, and then you have to use them.  Otherwise they dull with time.   Not unlike having a sharp knife. It’s a great feeling to have a sharp knife.  But it takes maintenance to keep it that way.

This relates to a lot of things that I am trying to teach myself.   To be a better (insert everything here) I must remember to practice, practice, practice.  Continuing to work towards improvement.  I am very happy to have this platform as a practice room.  Thank you for listening to me play.

All of the best,

Amanda

South Lake Tahoe, CA | February, 2017

This shot is me playing with my own shadow against the snow in South Lake Tahoe.  I have been trying to take some moments as I can, to try new things.