Use the talents you possess – lessons learned while playing Guitar

An anonymous quote I saw the other day said, “Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be silent if no bird sang except the best.”

This struck me because I have picked up my classical guitar after 20 years of not touching it, and I am enjoying it immensely. I don’t practice as much as I would like to, but I enjoy what I am doing when I am doing it.  I decided to play some of my pieces on a webcam and then load them onto YouTube so that my family and friends could hear them.

Well, they came online with a few mistakes here and there. After listening to them, I almost took them back down, because I wanted them to be perfect.  On YouTube I could listen to others playing the same piece I was playing, and they were playing it much better than me.  But then I remembered that quote, and it make me think.  “Use the talents you possess.”

We should all strive to be better, and there is nothing wrong with that. I may even eventually put an updated version of some of my “imperfect” songs on YouTube.  But if I simply kept all my music to myself, waiting for that one day that I could play it with absolute perfection, well…that day might never come.  As we grow older, we realize that inevitable conclusion more and more.  Besides, I’m not a professional classical guitarist.  I’m a yoga teacher!

Following that concept to its conclusion, we should all share our talents with others, and not worry about our imperfections. We are, after all, imperfect beings.  If we waited for perfection to come, as the quote says, “the woods would be silent.”

Here are two of my latest YouTube guitar pieces. Please enjoy them.  I certainly enjoyed playing them.

Maria Luisa – by Julio S. Sagreras

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTNbjamydrY&feature=youtu.be

Barcarolle – by Napoleon Coste

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecS9tBefwm4