Perseverance

We must have perseverance and-above all-confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.
~ Marie Curie

Perseverance vs. resilience.

Same or different?

Perseverance: persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success (Oxford Dictionary)

Resilience: able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions (Oxford Dictionary)

Resilience can support perseverance, but they are not the same.

Perseverance is a whole-person experience; mind, body, and spirit. You need mental perseverance to keep the monkey chatter away. When the doubt and fear start taking over your thoughts, mental perseverance will silence the chatter, cheering you on and encouraging your goal or purpose.

Physical perseverance is needed when you’re tired or your energy is drained. The physical act of carrying on and putting one foot in front of the other helps keep the momentum going. Sometimes it amounts to sitting down at your computer to get started on your project, starting with the first line and letting it go from there. Trust that the mental and physical perseverance will work together, aligning with your desire to achieve your goal.

The third part of the triangle-spiritual perseverance-is connected to the bigger picture. What inspired you in the first place? What dream are you working to fulfill? What innate gifts are you using, developing or discovering? How are you connecting to spiritual support around you as well as within you?

This brings me back to perseverance vs. resilience. To me, being resilient carries the energy of enduring and withstanding the hardship. I don’t intend to mean that resilience is a negative trait, but perseverance carries a fluid, dynamic energy, motivated by inspiration. There’s a momentum driven by desire and fulfillment; to bring joy to the heart.

Are you a person who starts projects and struggles to complete them? Have you ever wondered what’s behind that?

I used to do that quite often with piano pieces. I would find a piece that I found interesting, play through it, spend minimally focused time on actually learning it, and then let it sit…only to come across it again at some point with surprise. I realized I have some baggage hanging around in my past experiences that interferes with the joy I experience when I am at the piano. There are far too many stories of not being good enough, that being an accompanist/collaborative pianist was for those that couldn’t cut it as soloists, that I don’t practice enough, that I play too musically, that I don’t deserve to be on stage…the list goes on. These criticisms and judgments of my playing came from ‘authority figures’ in the field…why wouldn’t I believe them? They would be the ones to know, right? WRONG!

Of all areas in my world, the one vehicle that is an honest, pure, vulnerable expression of me is when I play piano. And it is tainted. BUT…I am reclaiming it. I am unpacking the limiting beliefs and navigating my way home…to the heart of my music…my soul. I search for music that speaks to me, avoiding the standard repertoire, not because it isn’t good, but because there are expectations attached to them. I don’t want the curiosity of discovery to be colored by what is expected.

I want to be fed by what I sense, hear and feel within me and allow that to be enough. Because it is. It always has been and always will be.

I have dreams connected to my playing, including composing. I am committed to bringing them to life with the sheer joy of creating healing and music through my hands, regardless of who wrote the notes on the page. I will persevere. I will reconnect and align what has been knotted and disconnected…my mind-body-spirit connection to the expression of music within…the expression of me.