Excellence.

Today was Wednesday.
I am thankful for today.

I got 10, solid, glorious hours of sleep last night. That wasn't exactly my plan, but I let it happen because I really needed it. 11:45 rolled around and I showered and went to lunch. I spent the remainder of my afternoon in the music center, anxiously and uncomfortably waiting for the time to pass before my piano lesson.
This last week, I felt like I hit a definite and obvious plateau.
With music, it is a day to day, week to week thing. Just like we open our eyes to a new day after a night of restoration, or a jump into a cold river on a hot, sweaty day. You have to make a conscious decision as to whether or not you are going to seek excellence. Music has taught me to be honest. It is one of the most raw hobbies you can do because it puts everything out on the table with no room for cover-ups. Let's compare my other hobbies: photography? I can edit pictures to look a certain way. Meeting new people? You can act like any person you wanted to and they would never know you weren't really yourself. Music? Oh, yeah. I'll just play a recording and they'll never know the difference.

See what I mean?

Honesty. Raw, brutal, and beautiful truths. Most of the time when I feel like I'm plateauing, I've got something else in the back of my mind that's getting in the way of me having more confidence in myself. I easily compare myself to the other pianists in the department because I don't practice 5 hours a day, I'm not JUST a music major...I can't do what they do. But you know what I HAVE realized? I can give the best I can, which has gotten me this far. I can push myself to be motivated by their habits and talents. I don't have to prove myself any more than I already have. I will become better and I will capture beautiful moments with my music. I will continue to work hard and motivate others to appreciate the language it speaks.
Music truly is a lifestyle.
It's a verb.
To go freely.
To live.
To accept the hardships and learn from them.
To be the voice of the quiet who don't know how to talk.
To push yourself.
To be pissed off or blissful.
To love.
To dance.
To be playful.
To make a commitment.

I really love playing piano.
And I'm really happy God chose me to be a musician.


Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell him of his wonderful acts.
1 Chronicles 16:9