Feel

Once upon a time in my youth I took classical guitar lessons. I wanted to be a rock guitarist but the only place in my town that had lessons had classical guitar lessons. So I signed up.

One song that gave me a particularly hard time was a beautiful arrangement of Dear Prudence by the Beatles. What made it particularly difficult was a finger picking technique that went with the chords. The chords progression was simple but the finger picking technique was intricate and had a flowing rolling rhythm that looked and sounded simple but was anything but. My teacher warned me that I would struggle with it.

He was so right. I struggled with it every day for weeks. I scrutinized the sheet music thinking the answer was there. I watched my teacher intently as he demonstrated the technique and still it eluded me. I just couldn’t get it. I was frustrated to the point of quitting. My teacher told me that no amount of explaining or demonstrating would work – it was just something I would have to learn to feel.

Feel? What the hell is that? Man this sucked. I began to wish I'd taken up the drums.

But I kept at it. And then one night it just happened. I was sitting on the edge of my bed practicing and suddenly my fingers slid from labored and off-kilter to an effortless flowing rhythm. I stared stupefied at my fingers as they wove magic over the strings. Feel. I had it. It was in my fingers. And it felt fantastic.

I learned an important lesson that day. A lesson that continues to serve me well whenever I find myself struggling with my swim, my spin, or my run. Some things you can’t arrive at by analysis. Some things only come by feel. It can't be taught. It can’t be shown. But when you get it right, you know it. It’s a frustrating process that takes all your persistence and determination but when you finally get it it’s definitely worth the trip.