Be prepared for anything that comes your way!
It sounds crazy, but we can be prepared for anything that comes our way. Staying open is key, but also some planning comes handy and in this post I share with you why using a random example—as you might know I love, specially with food.
I love runny-yolk fried eggs. As simple as they can be, they are delicious and quite entertaining to eat. I love the taste, the texture, and how healthy—If I don’t use too much oil—they can be.
When I eat them though—on bread or tortilla—there is always a risk of a terrible mess when I bite into it. I’ve suffered through that terrible and messy explosion more than once and, if you know what I am talking about, you know that it can be quite a problem.
I want the delicious breakfast, but the uncertainty of the mess makes me think I should not eat them. For my luck, I figured out that if I open the yolk and see the scope of the “issue,” I am easily more able to control it.
If I see the problem, I feel I can solve it.
Aha!
Aha!
How to be prepared for anything?
When I sit down to plan a new piece, I try to find all the possible problems I will have to solve. It might not sound like the most optimistic journey but it works in wonderful ways to help me stay more positive. This simple task allows me to accept that there will be challenges and to have some solutions ready just in case.
If I know the problems, I can look for solutions.
AHA! in caps.
Ok, What about a real life example?
An example of this was when I had to write a five-minutes Magnificat. I sat there and thought:
“How can I make all this text fit into that short amount of time and yet be able to understand the story and not just go through it as nothing happened?”
Very confused and puzzled me
How can I do this!? I freaked out for a while.
Breathe in… Breathe out…
Besides listening to other composer’s setting and seeing what they could do, I also wrote down all the text, broke it down in sections. I solved to do fast sections.
Instead of trying to through composing the whole piece, I created a sort of skeleton that by the double bar let me see that my ideas fit into the five-minutes rule.
When I realized I had a blueprint that would work, I was so happy. I realized that I had done it without even writing any melodic line. I saw that problem and attacked it first.
Another Kitchen example to finish off this post
“I am going to use the blender.” It’s what I always say before I start this horribly loud machine. (It’s 2020, people. Let’s get on creating a silent blender).
I try to always let my husband—Ryan—know every time I am going to use it so he is ready for the loud sound, otherwise, he would be scared—as would I if he does not let me know!
When we know what we are facing, we can be ready to tackle anything!
How are you preparing for setbacks? I would love to hear your methods!
