Point of View

Try It Sometime

As famed WWII journalist Ernie Pyle once said, “Try it sometime.”  I have been giving those three words some thought these past few weeks as I “try” to master the drums, a discipline that no-doubt takes years of practice. Despite my drum-master’s continued support and encouragement I find myself more and more discouraged with my abilities. I have heard stories of other up-and-coming drummers who once thought as I do; a sinking feeling of complete failure accompanied by that dreaded inner voice of doubt.
Is there a fine line between talent and skill, a natural ability or one that is taught? Assessing my own abilities I know there are things with which I “naturally” excel at and things with which I have no idea, or better stated, no right even attempting. I seem to have the “natural” ability with technical and mechanical problems but was never very inept athletically. My natural ability for written expression has always come with little effort, although even that is subject to review from time-to-time, but that’s what editor’s are for. My sincere urge to play music doesn’t seem to be enough to overcome my cumbersome limbs from getting “tangled” as I transition from drum-to-drum. But, I use very little brain power arriving at a solution to an electrical issue aboard an aircraft generator, for instance. I’m reminded of a scene from “Farris Bueller’s Day Off,” where he is aimlessly blowing into a clarinet and when coming up for air says, “Never had one lesson.”  Of course, it was quite clear that he hadn’t, but the phrase, never had a lesson holds true for many people with natural abilities. I had a school friend who could draw these elaborate city scenes down to the finest detail and I could hardly manage a stick-figure. Another friend was able to play a right-handed strung guitar left-handed while still strung in a right-handed configuration. He would “simply” reverse his fingers to hit all the proper chords; never had a lesson.
  I always remember being so amazed at what they considered “no big deal” and it wasn’t until later in my life that I heard the same claims of amazement coming from friends at my natural abilities with technical and mechanical situations. It was then that the “it’s no big deal” realization sunk in and I “got” it. To them, I was a savior of technical skill; to me, it was no big deal. I realized the irony in our natural abilities as never being self-recognized as “natural” but rather something we have always been able to do, and thus, no big deal. I have also discovered that most people, including me, are rarely satisfied in doing the things that come naturally but set out to accomplish things of interest; things that don’t come naturally, which usually leaves us wishing we had the natural ability for this or that. It’s like wishing you had green eyes when you have brown, but if you had green, you would wish for blue. Alas!