2024-09-30
I have been eyeing up a violin that is being sold on eBay. I used to play violin a little as a child, and as with guitar got to grade one, but I stopped playing at about 11 or 12. With guitar, I stopped a bit later - my late teens, but really I was playing because my parents paid for me to have lessons, not out of a passion for the instrument at that time, and so I never really learnt. For instance, I barely practised at all (it became a bit of a running theme with the tutor where she would tell me to practise more..) and I improved slowly. Now, at 23, I want to be able to play an instrument. I have the guitar of course, which sits in my room often getting little attention. But I do like the idea of playing the violin...
The thing is, not only do I have no idea exactly what I would play, but I also just can't play, so there would have to be an extended period of study before I could actually play anything of note on the violin. Of course, I would also want to be able to do the same on the guitar (which I in no way can at the moment) but cannot at all.
(The bid has now ended so I'll have to look at a different one if I want one.)
See, I don't know whether it's worth trying to go after that. I am really not sure in terms of trying to pursue too much, or focussing on a few specific things. For instance, at the moment I am struggling even to get guitar into my life in a way that is sufficient for my desires; how would I do guitar and violin and art and gym and Italian and reading and wv and blog and poetry and prose and allotment and... well whatever comes next, but I guess the problem is I am trying to do a lot, and I should really try to cut it down, and just focus on a smaller set of things. I can take things one at a time as well; for instance, in terms of the gym, I really just want to get in a good shape. I can do that by losing weight (and I will pursue weight loss next month, by just dieting and eating less). Hopefully I can in the next few months kick a few pounds off and have a nicer stomach (is the goal). But really, the thing is, I am focussing on too much, and I need to focus my attention more narrowly at a smaller set of items, and not try to constantly go towards new things that I know I will inevitably end up dropping sooner or later.
The thing with it is, the main thing is a consistent period. I should probably measures in @@[thousands][/thousands] what the consistent period for the things are; for instance, the consistent period for the gym is about five months (I've been going since April) where I've been consistently doing it, but not always three days a week or to meet a particular expectation I set myself. Yet, because I am still going and doing it, I am actually seeing gains: my arms are certainly bigger and more muscular than they previously were, which is the proof of my labour. Likewise, I can get the proof of having written wv fairly consistently these last two months (23 in August, 39 in September) because of the huge increase in the number: I've gone from around ten, to around eighty, in two short months. That is the proof of my work, even if it not something that exactly fills me with a huge pride at all, and even if I still have problems, e.g. I now want to begin writing the blog more, and doing that twice weekly as well, and am sure that everything that I write in wv is neither useful nor actuallly necessarily best suited for wv; some of it probably belongs in blog or somewhere else. That said, I could definitionally define wv to be "anything provided it meets the word-count suggestion" and I think that that is probably a wise way to go about it; in that case, I have successfully gotten to my eightieth wv and can feel decently proud about the fact. 96k words (as I write a little more than 1k words each time).
So, in terms of violin, perhaps best to leave it. I think that I can stick to the few @@[thousands][/thousands] that I have - wv, gym, guitar, art, (maybe) the podcast (I don't release that btw). Also, I note that a lot of the time Visa's wvs are more prescriptive, whereas mine are more deliberative; I think this really as he is more knowledgeable than I am, and better capable, and so he can give proscriptions, whereas I can at best ramble about a topic and hope to approach sense, if that makes sense.
I've certainly improved as a person in the last year though, even though there is a long way to go. I think the gym is main thing I can see proper progress on, likely due to the sheer amount of reps: 37, which isn't many but is far more than the guitar or art. I will of course this month aim to get an additional thirty reps onto art, bringing it up to 35 by the end of the month. I will aim for 45 at the gym (factoring in that I can't go to the gym for eight or so days due to being in Italy). That is eight in 22 days, or every third day, easily done. I will aim to do a bit of guitar again this month as well, otherwise I will be too demotivated. And of course, it would be good to resume the allotment a little. A lot to do.
That's next month though, and there is still about three hours left until then. For now, I will give up on the idea of the violin, and focus on guitar instead; maybe once I get proficient at the guitar (not even as an expert, but just decent enough to play) I can look at the violin. By that time, I may have less to do in terms of the gym (which can be maintained after a while) and Italian, and possibly even the allotment (once I sort of get the hang of it). I just need to get each of these to a decent state, and then I'll be happy with just maintaining them, I think. (Also, I waste so much time at present that potentially I do just need to take the productivity pill, as is suggested just about everywhere ("productivity pill" as in "red pill", not as in a drug: I mean doing all the time management and ya di ya).
Anyways, so I've got my duties for the month. Blog writing (eight times at least), gym (eight times at least), Italian study a little more before the trip, and drawing every single day. That, combined with the usual LM2 and RHS study might be difficult, but I can also "reconvene" myself at the end of each week and work out what went well and what didn't. In fact, doing so at the end of a day would be good, too. I just need to clear the time, and sort myself out in terms of a fairly consistent schedule.
That's all. I was really writing to talk myself out of impulse purchasing... Have a good one.