Joshua J. Marine on a meaningful life (and interesting challenges)

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy!

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Joshua J. Marine

In studying classical guitar, we may as well embrace the daily work. We need not only accept, but relish the constant challenge.

Classical guitar is hard. It’s complex. It demands we perform finger acrobatics at breakneck speeds. It asks we not squeak or thud or groan. And it requests we turn out beautiful music in the process.

And why would we sign up for this? What’s so great about jumping through such flaming hoops each day in our practices? What payoff could possible be worth the trouble?

The answer is: just to do it.

It feels good to see incremental improvement over time. We enjoy getting better at something.

Financial icon Ray Dalio, in his book “Principles”, notes that improving at something over time is much more satisfying than any single accomplishment. He points out how the joy of the win (and his wins have been considerable) doesn’t last very long. The prize at the end of the road pales in comparison to the incremental improvements that come with practice.

And Joseph Campbell thought the same: “When you’re on the path, you’re at the goal.”

Of course not every day “feels” successful in the moment. Some days we may wonder if we’ll ever make it through. We question ourselves and suspect we may actually be getting worse. But showing up to fight the good fight can be the reward in itself (in hindsight if nothing else).

When we sink our teeth into classical guitar’s juicy problems, and overcome one little obstacle at a time, life does seem to have more meaning. A good practice can help the day feel fulfilling and rewarding.