Adagio in B-minus: When I learned to play the violin at 45, my competitive streak got out of hand

Posted on June 19, 2015 by KindaScratchy
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From The Globe and Mail:

by Kim Mead

(michelle thompson For the globe and mail)“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”

– G.K. Chesterton

When I first stumbled across Chesterton’s quote I read it as a parody of the adage “Anything worth doing is worth doing well,” a motto I had always embraced.

At the age of 45, my intense need to overachieve had left me in a state of burnout. I was a cranky, depressed insomniac. Yet I refused to take time off work, drop mileage from my triathlon training, or say “no” to any opportunity to prove my capabilities. If I sound like an annoying, goal-oriented, self-obsessed individual, I probably was.

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About KindaScratchy

I'm a novice fiddler and mandolinist. I've played the guitar for many years and also play the recorder, fife, flute, and, more recently, tin whistle. I work in the communications field and, in addition to music, I enjoy photography, writing, gardening, golf and travel.
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One Response to Adagio in B-minus: When I learned to play the violin at 45, my competitive streak got out of hand

  1. Fiddlerman says:
    August 10, 2015 at 7:54 am

    That was a refreshing story. Kim seems to have found what learning an instrument is all about. :slight_smile: Thanks for sharing that story here KS.

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