start it and go

Oftentimes, we sit at the (piano) keyboard ready to start composing, the (computer) keyboard ready to start sending emails, the desk with pen in hand ready to start writing.  Then, we hesitate. We think. We check our email, our phones, the news. What is it about beginning that is so scary? Are we afraid we won’t produce something of value or that we’ll be rejected?  

I’m still not beyond the beginning scares, but I think the solution is to start everyday, to have a habit of getting past beginning.  Although I have not written a blog post everyday, I have spent the past few months focusing on just starting and moving.  Many posts are not refined, and I feel like I should carefully edit them and post them later. Instead, I have adopted the approach of doing.  Write and publish. Of course, this approach won’t get you your best composition or your most persuasive email. Yet, no masterwork ever existed without the author or composer first beginning.

*Even Beethoven started with something very different from the final version of his 5th symphony.  Here is an audio version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2-G0RdiOI