Practice doesn’t always make perfect
The word ‘expert’ doesn’t come into Jungian therapists’ vocabulary very often. Jung believed in the notion that we are all ‘practitioners’ of our own particular trades. I like the idea of being a ‘practitioner’. It makes me feel uncomfortable when people tell me they’re an ‘expert’ in any given field. It makes me think that they’re either at best, showing off or at worst, telling porkies.
The idea that somebody knows everything there is to know about any given subject really turns me off. How can you possibly know everything about anything? Where’s the fun in knowing everything anyway? And why would anybody want to get up in the morning if there wasn’t anything new to learn?
A year or so ago I started taking Capoeira lessons (part martial art, part dance. Google it – it’s really good). I figured it would be fun to learn a new skill while trying to get a little fitter. Needless to say it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and I’m really not very good at it but I really enjoy it.
I also enjoy playing the drums and the guitar in a band (not at the same time though). It’s a lot of fun but we’re not that good. We generally start the songs at the same time but it’s a rare thing to finish them together.
Maybe I should just quite my Capoeira class? After all, I still end up facing to the left when everyone else in the room is facing to the right. And I still feel dizzy and sick after attempting cart-wheel after cart-wheel after cart-wheel across the room while trying to hold the focus of my partner whom I’m supposed to be mirroring?
Is it time to throw away the drum sticks and eBay my guitar? Afterall, the days of giving any serious thought to becoming a full-time musician (or a drummer ha-ha) are long gone.
Well the answer is of course not. I am a practitioner of Capoeira. I am a practitioner of the drums and of the guitar. And while I’m about it, I am a practitioner of the graphic arts and of web design – the two things in my life that some people have decided (incredibly, some might say), to pay me money to practice.
My advice? Steer clear of the experts and keep practicing.
Nick Welsh
www.monoindustries.com
Twitter: @mononick
Nick Welsh practices graphic art and web design in Cambridge, UK under the name Mono Industries. He was involved in the music programme at Greenbelt for about 100 years and now helps out with various aspects of www.greenbelt.org.uk. He lives in Cambridge with his partner Jane, his daughter Edie and an Irish Terrier called Hattie.
