Soundchoices: Paul Elwood

Listening to the Sea

In Paulo Coelho's novel, The Alchemist, the Alchemist is in the desert with this protege. He picks up a conch shell and remarks that the desert had once been the bottom of a vast sea. He tells the student to hold the shell up to his ear and to describe what he hears. "...and he heard the sound of the sea. 'The sound of the sea is always in the shell,' says the Alchemist, 'because that is its Personal Legend. It will never leave it until the sea covers the desert again.'" 

Our works are autobiographical. No matter what noise we choose to make in the world: painting, writing, acting, composing, business, study, etc., our Personal Legend, our past, our personality, informs and guides us in what we create. And that story will be expressed consciously or unconsciously in what we do. 

Building Endurance

When I was 30 I hadn’t been on a bicycle in years. My first ride around the block left me winded and exhausted. So, I vowed to ride a little every day, starting with that one block for a couple of days, then two blocks, then three, then a mile, etc. Endurance and shape built up quickly. Soon I was doing ten miles on a daily basis.

I find that, if I’ve taken a hiatus from composing for a while (I try not to, but do allow a little time between projects to catch a breath), that I may have to work my way back to longer writing sessions. The same thing is true with my practice. If I haven’t managed to maintain a regular practice habit, then my concentration levels - and my chops - need time to build back up.

With composing, if I start with 30 minutes or an hour a day for a while, concentration and focus begin to increase over time. Eventually I find that I’m working straight through two hours without thinking much about it, and then, eventually, beyond.

If you are uncertain about the difficulty of pushing the pencil or the brush, don’t be discouraged if the first half hour is hard. But try to commit to doing something for half an hour a day and see if it doesn’t build up to longer sessions over a few weeks.