Starting Over ~ The Courage to Be a Beginner Again
I used to sing and play the guitar all the time when I was younger. In my teens and twenties it was effortless, joyful, something I never overthought.
But twenty years passed, and life shifted, and somewhere along the way I stopped playing.
So when I showed up at the beach the other night with my son’s guitar in my hands, I felt nervous in a way I didn’t expect. Rusty. Exposed. Like a beginner again.
This morning I did some free writing and this story emerged (I left it exactly like it came out, and only fixed spelling and grammar mistakes afterwards):
Last night was wonderful. We met at the beach for a sing-along with guitars and ukuleles and we played lots of songs. In the beginning it felt a bit awkward and my voice and guitar playing skills are quite rusty after all those years.
But the more we played the more fun it was.
I had to focus a lot on the lyrics and chords and didn’t even notice the beautiful sunset starting behind me. But there were a few moments when I looked up and around into all the happy singing faces around me and I noticed my daughter joining in with me, my youngest son playing with some kids close by, and some other people arriving at the scene.
When the sun set over the water my friend suggested to sing her favourite song Here Comes the Sun, but we sang Here Goes the Sun. It was beautiful.
Then I wanted to play Those Were the Days again and it turned out so much fun with everyone joining in that a man came closer and wanted to join our music session. He had a soprano saxophone with him.
Another friend was inspired to play a Polish song and it was so catchy that we all started humming it and I even picked up the chords and played along. The hippie with his soprano saxophone joined in and it sounded perfect. I haven’t had a jamming session like this in years!
Then I started playing Bella Ciao which was also great, and we ended with Hey Jude because the temperature dropped as soon as the sun was gone and we all started shivering at the beach.
I don’t know why this story is important but it feels important to me. It was one of my favourite moments here in Spain and such a nice ending to our 2 months’ stay in this small seaside town.
This short piece of writing shows me two things…
- How much I like timed free writing because I love watching stories or epiphanies emerge during this practise.
- How important it is to allow ourselves to start again, to be beginners again, no matter our age.
Standing there on the beach, shivering, laughing, singing off-key with strangers, I remembered something I’d forgotten:
Creativity is simply showing up with what you have, even when you feel rusty, even when you feel scared. Especially then.
Maybe this is why this moment feels important. It reminded me that it’s never too late to return to the things we loved. The courage to be a beginner again might be the most creative act of all.
What do you think?
