What Practice Can Do

I’ve been hearing the saying ‘Practice makes perfect’ for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I found it a little annoying. But when I got a little older, I finally proved to myself that it was actually right.

It applies in sports. Though I’m not a sports minded person and I seldom watch games, I know how much time athletes spend in training. My friend, a billiard champion in the province can attest to the importance of practicing his sport. Every day, he spends a few hours playing billiard until such time that he could already anticipate the movement of the balls.

It applies in music. My brother, a musician, spends a few hours every morning to master a particular song. He said that he wanted every part of his body to get accustomed to it, the movement of his fingers, the tap of his feet and even the slight swaying of his hips in order to feel the music flow in his body. He says, when he practices hard enough, playing would just come out naturally that it would be like he isn’t playing at all but just snapping his fingers or blinking his eye. Well, don’t you just want that level of mastery??

It applies in writing. When I started blogging, I read some pointers on how to be a good blogger and among the top tips to become one is to keep on writing. At first, I thought it was pointless. If you are a good writer, you would come up with something anytime you like. Words would flood your mind and flow out of your fingers.

Well, I discovered, the hard way unfortunately, that it wasn’t that way at all. In 2012, due to some unfortunate events, I nearly stopped writing. I neglect my blogs posting only almost twice a month. After more than a year of negligence, my enthusiasm came back and I found myself excited to write again. But it hadn’t been easy. I spent hours staring at the blank screen waiting for my mind to work and come up with something sensible to write.

I realized, then, that I needed to practice in order to refine my writing skills. So, I decided to post on my blogs three times a week. After three months of doing exactly that, I find it easier to write about something, anything. Practice makes it easier for me to think of an idea and to elaborate that idea and put into writing.

Now, I enjoy blogging more than ever. After all, writing is my passion, alongside teaching and crafting.