Monday morning you sure look fine. I'm excited for you because I'm getting my hair colored today and I'm going a bit more buttery blonde- yes I am. I'm growing my hair for the first time in years and I need to have some fun. Khan and I are trekking to Soho in a few for a bit of highlights and color.
And no, the title of this post has nothing to do with THAT "doing it", so get your mind out of the gutter, kids. I was thinking over th weekend about the old adage of practice makes perfect, and how any of us can do anything we want in this life as long as we take some time to do it well. Oh and just like the pretty picture above, perfect is boring, so don't let the idea that you may not be perfect at something stop you from doing said "it", whatever "it" may be. If being perfect is your goal, you're most likely going to fail, or get too annoyed to keep working on those things that may at first seem difficult to do.
A friend of mine came to visit me in Brooklyn last week and we got to chatting over some Vietnamese sandwichy things about what's next. If you are a Gen X type, you no doubt have pondered this very question over the past few years, as it's hard to avoid the avalanche of thinking thoughts such as "I just can't do this when I'm 50", or "I better not be doing this when I'm old", or "I'm too old for this shit". It's inevitable really, though I must admit that this line of reasoning was pretty prominent all through my 20s and 30s too. I always was looking to up the ante, regardless of whether or not what I was doing was cool or not. I'm one for options after all.
But check this out- my adorable friend asked me how it's possible that I come up with something to say every single day on this blog. She was puzzled by my ability to write each day and whip up a post come rain or shine. It's a question I've been asked more than a few times, and all I can say is this- if you want to get good at something, you gotta do it almost every day. And whether or not you're a Malcolm Gladwell fan, he had a point when he mentioned in "Outliers" that if you put in enough hours doing something, you're very well going to become an expert at it. He mentioned 10,000 hours, which may sound like an eternity but it's not when you're following your heart.
For instance, I've never had an interest in running a marathon, but I do know that if I worked hard enough to put in the time to train, I could certainly do it. I myself decided to dedicate myself to a career in writing, or at least get back in the game when it comes to having that feeling of ease when I write. As a young person, writing was second nature to me and flowed freely- as I got older, it simply did not, and it broke my heart. Writing every day got me there again, and now it's not only simple but I feel like I'm finding a new passion for sharing my thoughts with others, as well as refining my writing as the days pass.
It's really all about a practice- we talk about practice mostly as a form of drudgery, but if you think of a practice in terms of a meditative, dedicated hour or two a day to focus on some sort of goal, then it becomes something you really look forward to, even if the goal in itself is just sititng down or standing on your head an hour a day to see if you can do it. This is more aligned with "practice" in the spirtual sense, just like when people talk about yoga in terms of a "practice"- what I have always liked about yoga is that you may very well be a beginner in yoga for years until you experience any sort of advancement in your practice, and that's ok. But when you finally can do a backbend or a head stand, it's pretty outstanding, though certainly not the goal- the goal is more about the hour to shut down and take some time for yourself and your body and mind. The ability to become more flexible as well as have a nice ass are bonus points.
I myself am not one for standing on my head, and to be honest with you, I can be a bit of a quitter when I find something grueling, tedious, or boring. Since I've always been a bit of a "on to the next one" kind of girl, it's not always easy to do something every single day, but as I devoted my time to this blog, I was amazed at how "second nature" it all became- I mean, think about it- do you ever question how you know how to tie your shoes or take a shower? No, right? Because you've done it enough times that it's part of you, part of your day, and part of the fabric of your experience on this Earth. So why should dedicating yourself to finding your passion be any different? I promise you if you do something every day, you're going to get good at it, and the only reason you're not going to is because you quit, and that's that.
The only kicker is that if you are spending all of your days doing something you hate, it's pretty tough to find that hour to do what you love for some reason. The doing what you hate kind of takes over and doesn't leave much room for the loving. I know that sucks, but it's true. If you can rise above that, you're a better person that me. Sometimes when you ditch that stuff that makes you feel like a toxic waste dump, everything else clears up as well...so maybe for now, use that hour a day to figure out how to get out of Dodge, where Dodge is that situation that is keeping you from all that good lovin'. And on that note, sure it applies to sex, too- if you do it enough- well you know...
Cause that's what's up this LL got it right kind of Monday in the best borough there is...keep doin' it, unless you hate doin' it, then do something else, and never let a fear of not being perfect get in your way, because if you do things perfectly, there's never any room to get better, which is indeed a first class bore. XO