Let's Get Messy Shall We?

Many years ago, I knew an artist who was well known in San Francisco for designing restaurants with gorgeous paintings and 25 ft. sculptures. And almost every job started with wonder at the designs laid out and excitement for what was to come.

Once the designs were approved, then came the demolition of the walls, floors and ceilings. Sometimes entire rooms were demolished. And it was dusty and dirty and it would stay that way for a while. Days, weeks, sometimes months. Then came the anxiety. What is happening? Is the project even being worked on? Will we make the grand opening deadline? And then they would start freaking out.

All hell would break loose and the owners and my friend would shout and argue - laced with threats of lawsuits and wanting their money back. Sometimes it would be that way until everyone was kicked by the artist who knew without fail that everything would fall into place.

Suddenly one day as if my magic, you could see the emergence of the space. The finishing touches would follow along with a massive clean up job. And then the space would be unveiled. The walls would be stunning and the sculptures soul stirring. The owners would arrive expecting dust and dirt and take a look at the beauty around them and drop to their knees and weep with gratitude.

I'm working on all new pieces now - and at the same time, our apartment sustained damage from a reconstruction project upstairs which cracked all of our ceilings and walls - resulting in contractors being in the place every day, plastering, dry walling, making dust and mess everywhere. In fact, my piano is wrapped in plastic and unreachable at the moment.

I am telling you this story because that is very much how it for any creative endeavor. (Minus the shouting and threats of lawsuits.) Learning new repertoire is like my artist friend making art out of chaos and our apartment undergoing it's transformation.

It's messy.

And sometimes confusing. And a whole lot of work, with the end results far far far far away.

But.......

I've done this enough times to get comfortable in the mess. And even enjoy the mess. Because the day to day toiling over fingering, phrasing, learning the notes, memorizing passages, finding the meaning in the music, creating the expressive road map all leads to a polished, performance ready piece at the end of the tunnel. And that is worth all of it.

So, no matter what you are doing...learning music, painting, writing, working on a work project, refurnishing your home......get comfortable with the mess and get into it since that is a major part of the journey.

XOXO

VIVIENNE