Wallitner Weekly 14
Hello everyone!
A lot of productive things happened this past week.
I have made steady progress on the members section of my website. I am doing research into creating a “bundle” package and a “discounted” package. I think I can even create promotional codes to send in the Wallitner Weeklies so that people who receive the newsletter could get a month free of Wallitner Music Members. So look out for that, Id love to have you check out the members page and tell me what you think.
I have a lot planned for next week too!
Next week will be more of the same. Im making worksheets, ear training exercises, quizzes, and lesson videos. I have learned how to make worksheets and quizzes through google. This means that when you complete a quiz or worksheet, it will tell you what you get right or wrong. That way I won’t have to correct a bazillion theory things. BUT the best part is I’ll have an excel sheet that will keep track of everyones scores so I can see the patterns on what I need to teach better.
It’s Good To Suck At Something.
I was sitting at my desk wondering what I would write about. And then I thought “Just make it up”. The point of this section is to tell a little story. So I could tell the story of Tommy “Mac” Phillips, star-fighter pilot. And how he used to swindle his fellow soldiers on Earth by betting them he could do 10 one-armed push ups. And then he would double down and do 10 more on the other arm. The poor fools and Northwind star-base were no different. I could talk about how Mac Phillips is this “Indiana Jones” type character, with the catchphrase “Son, are you bulletproof?” and then BANG. I could talk about how he meets a girl named Charlie, who is charismatic and clever, and just generally amazing and after the battles are over they get married and have four kids. Ray, Matthew, Annie and Mikey. I of course would save their children’s stories for a second book.
I could tell the story of a guy who writes a newsletter every week, but the “L” key on his keyboard is a little busted so every time he spells his name it reads waitner which then gets auto corrected to waiter. Which is frustratingly different from the name he attempted to type. So the onger he goes the more he sams the keys so that they wi work, but of course that doesn’t hep anything (my L key does give me trouble, but its not that bad. I tend to avoid that certain consonant when I can).
Now i’m just using this section of the weekly to entertain myself. I think that my keyboard story is hilarious and if you don’t then to he with you. (Im laughing aloud as I write this)
See I’ve been listening to this book called “It’s Great to Suck at Something” by Karen Rinaldi. And in it she talks about all of the benefits of doing something you like to do, with no intention of being great at it. She talks about surfing a lot in the book because that’s the thing she wanted to do and suck at. Of course, you don’t set out to suck at whatever the thing is. But you don’t set out to be great at it either. The burden of perfection is too great a weight for us to place on ourselves.
I write music, I intend to be great at that. Thats my thing. HOWEVER, I like to tell stories. I like to tell stories so much that I don’t even care if they’re good stories. I just like making stuff up. Maybe you liked the story of Tommy “Mac” Phillips, maybe I’ll sit down and write more stories like that. Stories with lots of pages and details about nothing. But I don’t intend to be a best selling author (though that would be cool). I do it because its fun. And if I suck then who cares.
In her book, Rinaldi talks about how sucking at something and being okay with it prepares us for when we suck at something we hoped to be good at. Which I think is great advice. It alleviates the burden of perfection just a little.
So I would say if there’s something you want to do, you think it would be fun, and it’s not dangerous. (You can only suck at skydiving once, so maybe pick something safer than that.) Then you should go do it! For me that thing is writing. I don’t think I’m particularly great at writing, my pros is far from professional, but I do like to tell stories. Perhaps that honesty is more important than skill. And if you’re worried about people making fun of you for choosing to suck at something… To he with them. Do it anyway.
