In the learning of a new skill, there’s almost always a part in the middle that’s a tough slog. The newness and excitement has worn off, the quick improvement from “knowing nothing” to “knowing something” has slowed to a trickle, and proficiency seems very far away. Some days it seems like you’re going backwards. This is exactly the point when many people quit.
But what about those times when you can’t quit? When the process must be experienced until the very end? I’m directing a play right now, and we’re in that middle portion when the things that were funny in the first few days of rehearsal aren’t funny any more, and the tricky parts of the script loom large. A good friend asked me the other day how rehearsals are going, and I answered, “We’re right where we should be. It will be frustrating for the next few days, and then everything will start to fall into place.”
I know this process inside and out. I’ve been directing for 25 years, and this moment, this dip, is something I now expect and know how to navigate. What I’m thinking about is how to apply that knowledge to other processes, times when I’m not so familiar with what may happen next.
What if I can borrow that certainty the next time I’m not so sure? What if I can just remember: “This is the part that’s a slog. I’m right where I should be.”
