Leave It Behind to Improve It?

I already knew that perfectionism had no place in my Minnesota Brass adventure. As a first-time spinner, I have no hope nor expection of perfection, and I’m not a perfectionist, anyway, in any areas of my life. I’m a pretty-darn-goodist at best. 

But, when I know I need to improve in something, I will practice it fairly relentlessly until forced to move along to the next thing.

So last week at practice, I was thinking, “Hey, I’m doing sort of OK, here!” I could keep up with what was going on during the spinning (flag-spinning and tossing) part of practice. My moved weren’t sharp enough or precise enough or fast enough. But I could at least complete the exercises reasonably well.

But before I could give myself a big pat on the back, Heather said, “OK, now we’re going to try this left-handed.”

WHAT?!

Drop spins, under flats, triplets, thumb flips, and some combination of single tosses while traveling in plies that I don’t know the name of–I had just barely been able to handle those with my right hand. When I tried to do them with my left hand, I didn’t even know where to start, other than constantly dropping the flag and/or hitting myself with it.

But here’s the weird thing. As I’ve been practicing the left-handed stuff at home since that practice, I’ve realized that moving ahead to something even harder has made the right-handed version feel so much easier! And by trying to learn something that builds on the prior skill, I’m still improving the prior skill while focusing on the new skill. In some bizarre way, the overwhelming new task moved me forward in my old task, too.

Or maybe my right-handed stuff just looks better to me because the left-handed stuff is so pathetic!

This has me wondering about writing, too, though. Do I keep “working on” certain things in my writing because I’m really trying to improve them? Or is it just habit? Is it time to say good enough on certain levels of skill and try to take them a step further? Is that when the real improvement will happen on the good enough ones? As I struggle with the brand new and totally overwhelming ones?

Writing isn’t visual nor quantifiable like flag-spinning is. When I drop the flag or catch it before it rotates the proper number of times, that’s pretty obvious. I know I didn’t do it well enough. Writing and other artistic pursuits are much harder to judge. Still, I know there are techniques I work on, whether it’s coming up with better titles or using stronger imagery in my poems, that I’ve been working on a long time. So I’m wondering if there are ways I can push myself beyond those expectations to something harder, a new level of those same areas. I might not hit the something harder, but maybe the titles and imagery will get stronger as I struggle to reach for what seems totally unreachable. (Huh. Cue “The Impossible Dream” here.)

What do you think? Am I crazy? Has this happened to you, too?

P.S. I’ll be at the hospital today with my daughter, who’s having an evaluative procedure. Please keep your fingers crossed for good results–thanks!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,499 other subscribers

Are You Looking For?

Poetry Friday posts

Classroom Connections posts

All my poetryactions

Go to my Poetry page for:

  • National Poetry Month projects through the years
  • Small Reads Roundups (poems grouped by topic)
  • Introductions to several favorite poetry forms
Tags
#waterpoemproject15 Words or Less Poems20for2030 Painless Classroom Poems50 State Poemsacrosticsactivity pagesactivity sheetALAA Leaf Can Be...Amy Ludwig VanDerwaterA Need to FeedanthologiesanthologyA Rock Can Be...art projectsaudiopoemsawardsbad newsBarbara Juster EsbensenBilly Collinsbiopoemsblog tourbookalikesbook festivalsBookSpeak!book spine poemsbook trailersbop poembyr a thoddaidcafepresscalendar poemsCamp Read-a-LotCan Be... bookscan be... poemsCapstoneCarol Varsalonacascade poemsCatherine FlynnCCRA.W.3CCRA.W.4CCRA.W.5centoschapter bookschoral compositionschristina rossetticinquainsCLAclassified ad poemsclassroom connectionclassroom connectionsClover Kittyconferences and conventionscrown sonnetscybilsdansaDare to DreamDavid Elliottdeeper wisdom poemdefinitosdiamantesdiversitydizaindodoitsuDot DayDouglas Floriandownloadablesdrum corpse.e. cummingsekphrastic poemsepistolary poemsequation poemsessentialethereeseventsexquisite corpseFairy Tale Garage Salefamilyfibonaccifiction picture booksfinding familyfirefightersforeign editionsfound poemsfree author zoomsfree versefrom studentsgeesegeorgia heardghazalGift Taggiveawaygolden shovelgoldilocksgratitudehaikuheart of aheart of a teacherHeidi MordhorstHelen FrostHighlightshow-to poemshow to make a rainbowI Am FromI Am poemsidiomsif you want to knit some mittensIf You Were the MoonILAimagepoemsinterviewin the middle of the nightIRAIrelandIrene LathamJ. Patrick LewisJanet WongJoyce SidmanKendraKerlanKidlit Comboslailaura's board booksLaura's booksLaura's poemsLaura's readingsLaura ShovanLee Bennett HopkinsLilian MoorelimericksLinda Booth SweeneyLion of the Skylist poemslittle free librarylive writingLullaby and Kisses Sweetlyricsmadness poetrymargaret simonMarilyn Singermary lee hahnmask poemsMeet My FamilyMelissa StewartMentors for Rentmentor textsmetaphorMichelle Myers LacknerMillbrookMinnesota Book Awardsmoonmy reading lifemy writing processN+7naaninarrative poemsNational Poetry Month 2012 (haiku a day)National Poetry Month 2014 (riddle-ku)National Poetry Month 2015National Poetry Month 2016National Poetry Month 2017 (#wonderbreak)national poetry month 2018 (haiku a day)National Poetry Month 2020National Poetry Month 2021 (#EquationPoem)national poetry month 2022 (sticky-note poems)National Poetry Month 2023 (Digging for Poems)ncteNerdy Book Clubnifty newsnifty stuffNikki Grimesnonfictionnonfiction booksNonfiction Writers Dig Deepnovelsnovels in verseodesOne Minute Till BedtimeoppositifyOskar's VoyagepadletpantoumsparodiesPatreonpeacepersonalpet poemsphotopoetryphrase acrosticspicture booksplagiarismpoempicspoemspoems for two voicespoemsketchpoetic pursuitsPoetry 7poetryactionspoetry activitiesPoetry Blastpoetry booksPoetry FridayPoetry Friday AnthologiesPoetry Princessespoetry promptspoetry sistersPoetry Tips for Teachersprogressive poempublishing processpuddle songPutridquotationsraccontinosRandy Salasread-aloudreadaloudreading poetry in the classroomRebecca Kai Dotlichrecipe poemsrefugeesresearchreviewsrevisionrhyming booksrhyming nonfictionrhyming picture booksRhyming Picture Books the Write Wayrhyming poemsRiddle-kuriddle poemsRock Can Be...Rock the Blogrondeau redoublesRudyard Kiplingsalas snippetsSCBWIschool visitsScotlandseasonssecrets of the loonSELsestinasshrinking daysskinnyskypeslice of lifesmall readssnack snooze skedaddlesnowman-coldsonnetsStampede!storm poemstorytimestorywalkstudent poemsstudent workSylvia VardellTanita Davistankatautogramteachableteacher resourcesteen/adult poemsterza rimasthankfulthank yous and referencesthe business sidethings to do iftracy nelson maurertrioletstunie munson-bensonvideosVikram MadanvillanellevillanellesWater Can Be...wealthy elementaryWe BelongWhat's InsideWhy-kuwinterwonderwonderbreakword of the yearwordplaywordsmithswork for hirewritingwriting bookswriting processwriting promptswriting the life poeticyoung authors conferencesYouTubeZap Clap Boomzenozentangle
Show More Show Less

Join Laura's monthly newsletter for eductators

Get three of Laura's favorite poetry activities when you subscribe to "Small Reads."