Having a Practice

The difference between obligation and opportunity

Recently, I talked about going through months of “music practice limbo“. Now, after my practice design upgrade, I’m energized, inspired, focused, and productive. What’s the difference? I’ve come to see it as the distinction between ‘having to practice’ and ‘having a practice.’

“Having to practice” is obligation, an assignment - outer directed. “Having a practice” is choosing to show up - for myself, for exploration, for growth that goes beyond the next performance. “Having to practice” is a job. “Having a practice” is a journey.

I discovered a fresh perspective on the idea of having a practice from Seth Godin. Throughout his prolific writing, he talks about practice as commitment to a purpose, as creative work, “showing up” consistently, a willingness to explore and take risks. His perspective gives me images and descriptions of things I’ve been intuiting but struggle to articulate.

Interestingly, I’d encountered similar ideas years earlier when I was learning how to meditate. The parallel was striking: training in meditation is understood to be “a practice”. So regardless of whether the frame is creative work or spiritual development, the principle is the same: skill development is a commitment applied to the ongoing realization of personal growth.

And this brings us back to music practice.

My “music practice limbo” came from inherited assumptions about how practice should work - limits and expectations that no longer served me. My “upgraded practice design” is a series of adventures: 30 songs I get to choose from and explore.

Now, instead of seeing myself as a musician who practices because that’s what we have to do, I see myself with a lifelong opportunity for musical exploration. The work is the play - showing up with curiosity, choosing my adventures, discovering the path as it reveals itself.

The shifting path from obligation to opportunity is ongoing. For me, making the choice for a longterm vision feels liberating. If you find yourself in your own practice limbo, I invite you to ask: what’s right for me?