PRACTICE (FMF31 2019 Day 29)

I am participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes 2019 (all of my submissions can be found here).

Today’s prompt is: PRACTICE

I remember (distantly) what a great feeling it was to practice something (mainly my flute) over and over and over and over until the piece was so ingrained in me that there was no way I would forget. So that I knew it well enough I could incorporate some personality into it and really enjoy a new level of the music.

I had YouTube on in the background today (long story) and there was some speaker talking about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours theory. I know people have different opinions about that theory, but it is true that single-minded dedication to something is going to increase the likelihood that you’ll be better at it.

My writing has felt so wooden lately. Yet I know the only way out of being stuck in that less-than-creative place is to keep writing (and to get feedback).

I have 10 minutes left in the challenge after tonight. I am stunned at how fast it has gone by, at how easy it was to slip back into the habit of writing every morning again.

I probably should dedicate that five minutes to doing Spanish on Duolingo after October ends. Getting more fluent in Spanish is my perennial goal, and yet I usually end up writing about it instead of doing something about it.

In Nashville, I had one of those encounters I seem to fall into — where I ended up speaking Spanish to the housecleaning staff. I always wonder if they think I’m a nut when I do that, but I have spoken (“spoken”) long enough that it’s second nature to start speaking Spanish (such as it is) when with other people who are all speaking Spanish.

I probably give them something to chuckle about on the way home with all my mangled conjugations and oddly-off vocabulary choices.

Yet, it makes me so happy to speak Spanish with anyone. I guess someday we’ll all have apps that translate for us and reduce the need for us to be able to speak Spanish ourselves, but I don’t want that shortcut. I want the real deal.

Here’s what that will involve: Necesito practicar.

But first, ten more minutes of five-minute writing prompts (tomorrow night, Thursday night.

(and ha ha apparently I didn’t set the timer so I’m not sure how long this was. :-))