Everyday Extraordinary: Strumming Chords

Last month, I committed to learning how to play the guitar. I hadn’t practiced in a while so  I decided practice for an hour yesterday. I had avoided practice because for the past month I have been struggling.  My fingers don’t seem to move in a coordinated way between the only two chords I know.  My husband keeps telling me to stop trying to master something and just enjoy the process of learning. I heard that in my head as I picked up the guitar yesterday afternoon.

I started off with the E major chord and strummed the guitar just fine.  I tried to switch to A major and my fingers were totally on the wrong strings and frets. I quickly frustrated wanting to quit after like 5 minutes.  I decided to stop strumming and practice moving my fingers along the fret. I did that for a few minutes, then added the strumming. Only this time I strummed very, very slowly to give myself time to move my fingers. I played E major. I strummed. Fingers didn’t quite get on a major and an interesting (aka horrible) not came out.

Instead of stopping in frustration, I kept going . E major. A major. This next time my fingers were on the right strings but they weren’t pressed down hard enough to get a rich sound from the strings. I still kept going. My fingers started sweating. My fingertips were aching, but I kept going. Even if I didn’t catch the write note, I kept moving my fingers. E major. A major. tapping my foot. Focused intensely. Strumming slowly. After about 30 minutes, my fingers started working a little better began getting some muscle memory for the 2 chords. Of course the notes didn’t always come out right but I kept going. I even started singing a little line “Keep going, don’t quit. Keep going if its a little messed up.”

This is exactly what life asks of us. To keep going. Like the marathon runner who wants to give out in the last leg but they keep going.  Everyday keep going. Keep spreading out and expanding. Keep moving beyond your current state. Keep moving beyond your current story. Keep creating.