There is a deep confidence that comes with experience. I saw it in at least three moments this week.
- The guest clinician who was able to assess and effectively rehearse music he hadn’t seen or heard in months, years, or ever.
- My own work in preparing for our high school’s annual Cabaret, writing band charts that can be read down quickly and easily for 40 or more acts.
- Watching and comparing my own ability to do the work while sick to one of my kids’ staying home with the same cold.
The confidence comes from having been from A to B in those situations enough times to know that you aren’t going to fall. It’s the confidence of a high-wire performer who has successfully walked across his tightrope thousands of times. The risk of failure isn’t gone, but it has been reduced to near nothing by years of experience.
I relish the confidence, because it’s such a difference from the anxiousness of youth. When you’re in high school or college, or just starting out in a career, you have no experience. Every project you do is the first time you’re doing it. The possibility of failure is palpable and scary.
I relish the confidence, and I used it to remind me to treat gently those who do not yet have that confidence.