A thought on practicing

Sometimes I feel like such a total geek for practicing the piano every day. It's not like it really matters in the sense that I have obligations to fulfill, a reputation to uphold, or fees to earn. It's not even exactly fun, though it's certainly absorbing.

At the same time, though, once you let one day slide, it's a slippery slope to not practicing at all, and therefore to losing any physical attainments you may have made. You won't lose everything -- you will still have had the experience, which is now part of your history -- but all of that muscle training will start to go.

The payback is not what some would imagine -- for example, compliments from other people (which tend to be far and few between in any case). Gratification comes when I put my hands on the keys and they feel familiar, and when what I imagine in my head translates into the sound that comes out of the piano. If I wasn't practicing every day, this would be elusive if not impossible. This is what I continue to pursue.