I started learning piano around the same time as my kids. It seems like they have different mindsets and perceptions of time. My boys don’t seem to have the same urgency to get results, nor do they get affected much by other good performers. In contrast, adult beginners tend to want results more quickly and have high expectations from the beginning.
I like this passage from The Art of Practicing:
Comfort, ease, and joy can be cultivated through practice. To do this, we must give up excessive ambition and the desperate struggle for results, and let ourselves feel the pain of our longing, of having to wait to make music the way we want to. We can learn to relax with this longing and to enjoy its soft, warm presence in the heart.
Presence is the state of being fully present, of body, mind, heart, and sense perceptions being completely engaged with the activity of the present moment. For a performer, this means not only being engaged with the music but letting the energy of the audience affect you. In practicing, it means being at ease in your surroundings and being aware of each movement and each sound that you make.
It’s a good reminder to be more present during daily practice, patient with results, and to cultivate a sense of relaxed longing.
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