Where Rose Writes Very True Stories

7 days…

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And I’m a bat! … This is actually very cozy. I could wear it all the time.

You know… you have to be really bad at something before you can be good at it.

I’ve had to learn to accept this. There are things I’ve really wanted to do, and part of my brain would ask, “Well, why don’t you?” And the other part would reply, “Because you suck at it.”

Were I talking to anyone else who felt this way, I would tell them, “Well that’s not very fair. You can’t get good at something without being bad at it, ya know.” But because I was talking to myself, I would nod along and say, “Yeah, you’re right. That’s a good reason not to do it.”

However, it’s not very fair. And I really want to play the piano.

One day not too long ago, with a heavy oh-boy-here-we-go sigh, I sat at the piano and picked out the chords to “I Hope You Suffer” by AFI—which is a pretty angry-screamy song—and was very surprised to discover that it’s actually a super lovely chord progression. And I thought it would be very amusing to come up with my own less-screamy version with broken chords, and really try to lean into the prettiness of it.

It made me so mad.

Every time I got hung up on a chord or forgot a lyric or felt like I was playing it too simple, I would growl and grumble and walk away annoyed. It wasn’t sounding at ALL like what I imagined in my head.

But I’ve pushed myself to play it through at least once nearly every day.

And ya know what?

I was shocked to sit at the bench recently and hear something that I didn’t hate. Something a big step closer to what I’ve imagined.

Because, see, our brains are full of neural pathways. With consistent effort, they will rewire and build new pathways. As we refuse to give up on something we’re not good at, we tell our brains, “No, I insist on doing this thing,” and then the little construction workers come out during the night shift as we sleep, and start building the path in that direction. And over time, we get better.

Natural talent is a starting point closer to the finish line, it doesn’t have the final say. Hard work and diligence is where it’s at.

I was bad at accepting this, but I’m getting better at it.

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