Posted by Bill Jagnow on June 12, 2002 at 21:37:48:
In Reply to: Ever feel like you can't make it? posted by JB on June 12, 2002 at 15:50:21:
If your discouragement stems from worrying about whether you'll make it, then that's pretty typical. As I'm sure you know, success is just about entirely contingent on what you put into it. However, it's important to ask yourself other questions. Do you still enjoy playing? Do you see yourself enjoying music as a career? I'm not talking about the dream job of playing with the CSO or whatever: would you enjoy playing in a small regional orchestra and teaching, or something like that?
If the answers to the above questions are "yes," then good for you, and keep workin' at it and you'll make it. On the other hand, consider Pokorny's paraphrasing of Stephen R. Covey on the Orchestral excerpt CD. Is your "ladder" leaning against the right "wall?" If you genuinely don't enjoy music anymore, then by all means don't force yourself to do it. There is life beyond music. I only mention this because up until several months ago, I had intended to pursue music as a career. However, I gradually realized that I just really wasn't enjoying it anymore and I was continuing in it more out of fear of the unknown more than anything. Nowadays I'm applying to be a pilot in the Marine Corps and I couldn't be happier. I don't regret the years I spent in music at all, but on the other hand, I don't regret giving it up.
Point is, don't quit because you're worried if you'll fail. Only give it up if you don't enjoy it. I'm not encouraging you to be a quitter-- it's normal to go through periods of discouragement. Just make sure that at the end of the day, music is still worth it to you.