I’ve always enjoyed music and played various musical instruments during my life, but somehow I let music, which is something that fills me up, slip into the background these past few years.
Recently, on a vacation to Hawaii, I picked up the ukulele again, thanks to my friend, Lisa. When I got home I decided it was time to bring music back into my life.
What I love about the ukulele is its sweet sound, the way it seems to calm my soul. It is portable and easy to carry around, so there’s no excuse that it won’t fit in the car or with me when I’m going different places.
I have it hanging in my loft on a wall next to a few of our other instruments so it’s easy to reach for. I don’t have to pull it out of a case. It’s right there for me to pick up and strum or play.
I also found a cool site, Ukulele Underground, which teaches me stuff online, and I’m taking a few local lessons to give myself a jump start.
Now granted, music is familiar to me, but the ukulele is a new instrument and I love the challenge of learning new things. Even if I play for a few minutes a day, it brings calm, a sense of peace, and I feel grounded as I go about my day.
I’m not striving to be famous, but I do find that playing music and getting better at it, feels good. As humans, we like to learn and get better at stuff because it fills us up. The irony is we don’t get paid for it, but the reward is intrinsic and allows us to get in touch with other parts of our lives that we might normally abandon with the excuse that we are too busy. Sound familiar?
In Daniel Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, he says there are 3 factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction. Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.
Autonomy is the desire to be self-directed, in other words, being able to direct our own lives. Mastery is the urge to get better at stuff, which is why people (like me) play musical instruments on the weekends. Purpose is about acting intentionally and doing things that are meaningful. According to Pink, when people can direct their own learning, challenge themselves, and get better at something, it leads to better performance and personal satisfaction. Plus, it can be fun and it generally makes people feel good.
Research says it takes 10,000 hours to master something new. Why not start?
What new hobby, avocation, or perhaps an old “love”, will you begin or rekindle? What feeds your soul and helps you to reimagine your direction and purpose?
I’ll let you know how learning the ukulele is going.