Make Time For A Small Victory
Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair or two cups of good hot black coffee.
— Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
Oh, Cooper. You're so wise.
On a topic similar to one I've talked about recently already, in my struggle to find something to talk about today1 I've given thought to what's happened today.
I've started studying how REAPER works, as my current DAW of choice (FL Studio) does some thing wonderfully, others not so much. Thanks to a gentle nudge from someone2, I'm taking some time each day to learn enough to start making music in it! Except, of course, it takes time. Learning Dorico, in comparison, was much faster...
Thing is: I'm pissed off. Learning at first was fun! And when I'm focused, it still is. But finishing the day without anything actually done... it pisses me off! This was the third day in a row I'd finish thinking "Oh, well, I've learned a lot today!". I feel like Hamtaro's owner3.
It's important to give yourself a present, just like Cooper says. But I think it's also good, sometimes, to make time for a small victory. Bake a cake and be proud of it. Attempt a sudoku harder than usual and finish it. Beat that final boss in that game you've been postponing since you've been so busy lately.
Finish that track in the usual DAW! You'll make another one tomorrow or the day after, but this victory, today, is yours4.
Twelfth day of August, in which I'm doing my best to write a post each day as a good challenge to myself! Lots of people are doing Blaugust, but I wanted to do something a bit more personal for now. In any case, it's a good exercise (and it's easy to run dry...).↩
"I bet tomorrow will be even better, right Hamtaro?"↩
Actually I still have to mix it decently, but the draft I had for it was so unbearably bad I consider myself a winner after salvaging it.↩