Second Nature

Most of us strive to make a skill "second nature", to make it so familiar that no active thought is needed for it's execution.

...but then what?

I'll bet there's something you'd like to make second nature. Maybe you want your footwork to be fluid. Maybe you want to be able to play in 7/4. Maybe you want to show the joy that you feel when you play outwardly on your face. We all have something that applies.

So yay, you finally get there! Now you don't have to think about how to do that thing, you can just enjoy your hard work! Only wait...does that mean it's never going to get better? Of course not, but it just became second nature, and isn't that where you wanted it to be?

Second nature is a great thing. When you get something to that level, you should feel proud! Still, there needs to be a "third nature" or "fourth nature", where things get better after they become second nature.

It's up to you to figure out how long second nature is no longer "good enough". How are you doing the thing you're doing? How can it get better? Don't you dare say it's as good as it's going to get; I don't accept that and neither should you. It's possible that you can't figure out what would make it better, so give it time and approach it again later.

Here's where things get less fun. You'll go from second nature, to where now you have to think about things again. Crap! But you know what? You'll get back to second nature sooner or later and this time you'll be better than the last second nature (boy does that sound weird).

I experienced this a LOT with learning how to strike. The first week I learned how to play taiko, it was so easy! Arm up, arm down, don. A few weeks into it and I realized that I was missing a lot of technique. A few years after that and I started to feel pretty darned comfortable...until I learned of different kinds of grips I hadn't been aware of, oy. Some more months down the line and I could switch between grips at will, depending on my needs. Great! Only then I realized my bachi turn a lot in my hands when I play. Could I fix that? It took me a little bit of time to figure out that yes I can, but no I don't want to. And so on, and so on.

Mind you, that was just with striking! There were also things like syncopation and showmanship, as well as karate and very similar concepts there to re-evaluate as well.

Second nature is a pitstop on the road to improvement. Stop the car, take some pictures, eat a sandwich, but sooner or later you need to get driving again!