Many times, people are quick to judge what is occurring in their lives if it is uncomfortable or doesn’t seem satisfying or successful. Yet very often this is premature judgment. Sometimes when you think you are done, you are just beginning. You don’t know the outcome yet. You don’t know the conclusion yet. It can be so tempting to judge the appearance as if it is finished, but it is not necessarily finished. In fact, if you don’t understand what is going on, it is not likely finished yet. Things have not yet manifested clearly. This is a normal part of the process.
Tonight, Chris was doing a piano show at a private residence, and he did not enjoy it. He felt uncomfortable, and it was awkward, and for the entire drive home, he was “decompressing” to process and release his discomfort. Why was it so uncomfortable? What was that about? Is it worth it to feel that way? These are the questions he was asking himself.
Chris’s reluctant answer is “Yes, it’s worth it, for now.” And yet, he feels in his core that this was not an enjoyable experience. We do not disagree, yet we see things a bit differently. To us, his lack of enjoyment is merely a sign that he is processing, learning, and growing from the experience, sifting and sorting and gaining clarity. This experience tonight was a great way to get further clarity about who he is, what he likes, and what he wants. In that sense, we feel it is essential to his growth, not to be overlooked or skipped.
Okay, at this point I feel I should jump in here just a little bit. You are right, I didn’t really enjoy the experience, and yet I get what you are saying. The discomfort was educational I suppose. Not really sure what exactly to make of it, except that I was glad to be done with it. Yet I get that it’s all a part of the process. Also, it was an adventure: a new place I hadn’t been to before, new people I hadn’t met. No doubt I am expanding myself just by participating in this.
Anyway, I wasn’t really wanting this post to be about me. I wanted to give you the reigns, so to speak, so that I could not have to think too hard. Haha.
We think your experience tonight is a perfect example of a very important principle in life: Life is Always Becoming. You are never really done. There is certainly satisfaction, experiences that are going well. Yet very often they are the result of time spent searching for answers. You may have found an answer, then new questions occur. It is the nature of life to have these varying degrees of answers, certainty, and conclusions. Some things are “figured out,” and then new questions arise. That is the way it is.
Yeah, I have heard that. And I do get that. Sometimes it is kind of annoying, haha 🙂
But is it really? Even tonight, you have a bit of discomfort. Yet you are grateful to come home, grateful to relax, and you have new thoughts evolving and forming from your experience tonight. What is so wrong with that? Nothing. You are forming new conclusions and ideas, and you are expanding your awareness and knowledge. What they call “getting out of your comfort zone.”
Oh yeah, I definitely felt out of my comfort zone. But not for the first time. I have had shows like that many, many times. I always fight through it, yet afterwards feel a bit torn up afteward. It’s not so bad, I guess. Just part of life sometimes, like you say.
And, it’s never going away. Your show last night was so spectacular, so in the zone, as you said, that you hardly even felt it was worth mentioning. It was in the flow, natural and easy to enjoy. That is also the result of a process that brought you such ease and joy. Tonight is a different process.
Yeah, I guess so. Weird, because both of the events are just me playing piano somewhere. Yet they really couldn’t be feel more different.
The biggest piece is that it is You that is becoming. Tonight’s gig challenged you, brought you out of your comfort zone, and you are left feeling shaken. Last night was completely in the zone and comfortable… though it hadn’t always been. You have been to that place several times, and have acclimated. Tonight unnerved you because it was a stretch, it was something new to you: new location, new people, new energy and mood of the group there.
Stretch happens.
Lol, I guess so. That constant becoming you are talking about.
Thank you very much for the explanation!
No problem, Chris!