Just Show Up!

Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up.

—Woody Allen

There is much to consider when navigating this thing called life. Education, fitness, skills, socializing, and so forth. We are born without any of these, and it is only through learning about them, then learning how to do them, and then practicing that we come to a place where they are second-nature, and we do them without much thought. Anyone who has learned how to play a musical instrument, or learned another language can identify with that. At first, the process is exciting, as we have entered a new world where we know little to nothing, and each step, from learning basic piano chords, to being able to hold a conversation in Spanish is a little triumph for us. We have exponentially expanded our own universe and how we see it. As we continue to learn whatever has captured our attention, certain things become rote, and we cease to think about them, sometimes to the point of not paying attention.

The point where any activity becomes routine, and doesn’t require quite as much attention as it did when we were still novices, sometimes becomes the most important part of doing that special something. As any musician will tell you, practicing scales, from A to G, major and minor, is not likely the most interesting thing at times, but they will all tell you that this exercise is vital to their being able to play more difficult things: to create jazz riffs, to playing more difficult pieces. While they may feel they are moving through their exercises thoughtlessly, their mind is fully engaged, perhaps more so in these bedrock movements than in others. Here, they are not only improving their motor skills, but they are allowing themselves to move to another level of understanding altogether; perhaps a level they did not engineer, but reached nonetheless, thanks to these exercises. This is when these moments can become the most transformational to their growth as a musician. 

Life is complex as it is, and there are so many things we will never completely understand. Conversely, there will also be many things we perceive and can help others see and absorb new ideas. Trying things, especially things new to us, keeps us excited about learning. Each time we attempt something different, we not only learn new facts and skills, but we begin to link them to what we already know and begin to see new relationships and uses. Noticing these connections leads us to ask questions and seek answers, opening entire new worlds of knowledge to us. This, in turn, enables us to better understand how our world works, and how we can better use that knowledge as we navigate our way through life.

Transformation comes to us in many different ways. Often, we actively seek it by study, practice, and hard work, which is great. Sometimes, however, transformation sneaks up on us in the quiet, repeated movement and words; when we are not thinking too hard about what we are doing, when there is not a particular goal. Just by showing up, doing the work, and letting it guide us.