Organic Perfection
The following is from karen_jk. I thought kitschaster would appreciate it, and hopefully others as well, musical souls or otherwise. Used with permission.
Hello, folks! My singing circle leader, Barclay MacMillan, has this great concept of "Organic Perfection" I wanted to share with you. Last night he was teaching us a song in five part harmony...he played each part once or twice and some among us took on trying to sing one of these parts...learning it this fast was patently impossible, of course. He said that it would take awhile for us to learn it, but we'd sing it and enjoy how it was so far. So we did.
When you are learning something new, like a new song or other new task, he said, you of course will not be perfect at it right away...or even good at it. This is what learning is about, he reminded us. Whatever stage of learning we are at right now is exactly where we should be. He called this "organic perfection"...a concept of a continuously growing and developing perfection.
Our singing circle has always been more about the process of learning and singing than the product or performance. This concept kind of encapsulates what's so great about focusing on "where I am right now". I so often feel that I should always already know something, and if I don't, it's a huge flaw in me. I think "organic perfection" could help me with this anxiety.
Hello, folks! My singing circle leader, Barclay MacMillan, has this great concept of "Organic Perfection" I wanted to share with you. Last night he was teaching us a song in five part harmony...he played each part once or twice and some among us took on trying to sing one of these parts...learning it this fast was patently impossible, of course. He said that it would take awhile for us to learn it, but we'd sing it and enjoy how it was so far. So we did.
When you are learning something new, like a new song or other new task, he said, you of course will not be perfect at it right away...or even good at it. This is what learning is about, he reminded us. Whatever stage of learning we are at right now is exactly where we should be. He called this "organic perfection"...a concept of a continuously growing and developing perfection.
Our singing circle has always been more about the process of learning and singing than the product or performance. This concept kind of encapsulates what's so great about focusing on "where I am right now". I so often feel that I should always already know something, and if I don't, it's a huge flaw in me. I think "organic perfection" could help me with this anxiety.