Drumming as a metaphor for life
"Many men fish all their lives without ever realizing that it is not the fish they are after" - H.Thoreau
It's so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of drumming: play in time, don't crush your rolls, play clean with the line, don't miss the step off, be able to play chu-cheeses, don't get cut at audition and on and on it goes...
In a drumming vacuum, maybe that's all our drumming goals ever amount to.
But then again, we don't live in a vacuum ;)
When you drum, you may or may not know it or perhaps it is buried within your subconscious mind, but you aren't just hitting stuff to get better at hitting stuff; you are hitting stuff because hitting stuff is a metaphor for life!
I mean, there's more to percussion than just hitting stuff right? lol
So how well do you use your drumming experience to improve your life in significantly positive ways? Or perhaps, you don't know exactly how to apply those lessons just yet...
If you aren't able to see Drumming as a metaphor for life or as a great life coach, here are some simple concepts to get you started:
- Is it hard for you to make friends because you are shy or self conscious? Then perform your heart out for an audience and connect with them. When you present your true self to strangers, they will appreciate you for doing so and will be happy to welcome you as a friend. This is a very similar scenario to when you perform for an audience and they give you applause as a result.
- Are you getting stressed out and feel like the weigh of the world is just too much to handle? Then enter the Zen atmosphere of practicing and performing your craft not just to escape, but to learn how to stay focused. You're not going to handle all of your problems at once and you're not going to solve them by being emotionally compromised. Focus, find the best course of action for any problem and start taking care of them one at a time, just as you would when learning music or learning how to play cleanly with others.
- Anxious about the future and don't know how you will handle being financially on your own? Then continue to practice, improve and seek out knowledge and new challenges every step of the way during your drumming journey. The skills you learn are applicable to ANYTHING you do in the corporate world, entrepreneurial world or any world you choose to be a part of. When you step in to the financial world, practice, improve and seek out knowledge and new challenges just as you would when you are in a percussion ensemble.
As you can see, your time learning how to play drums is worth while and will teach you a great many things if you know where to find those lessons. So continue through this amazing activity called the marching arts and know that you aren't just trying to get better at drums to get better at drums; you're trying to get better at drums so you can get better at life!
Can you think of more ways Drumming can teach you about life? Please leave a comment as I would love to hear from YOU!