When I set up "A Rooted Life" Facebook a short while ago, I wrestled with what to put in the descriptions: some short phrases that sum up the essence of what I would like this venue to represent. I scramble something temporary, but not sure how representative those few lines accurately reflect the underlying principles. Often time, the ideology that we hold cannot be verified until the results start to show. And in those months and years of waiting, we need an "ideology incubator," an environment that keeps our principle warm and alive, an organic place to nurture the untested thoughts and believes.
Speaking of a nurturing incubator, I had a recent experience on my son's piano learning that I found it very fulfilling. My boy started the piano learning in his preschool years and has traveled on this journey for close to ten years now. After witnessing many kids who made the attempt for piano learning but ended up giving up after a few years into it, I wanna cultivate a different learning experience for my kids. We are fortunate to run into an amazing teacher, one with unique approach and teaching philosophy. I remember early on, the piano teacher would challenge my boy to use his primitive skills to play the same songs with variations of different majors and keys. I would describe her approach as very "organic." Instead of drilling on the mechanic skills, music theories, recitals and exam preparations, she seized to get to know and love each of her students in personal ways and instill the love of music in their hearts through very gentle and caring ways.
There were times when my kids arrived her class half awake after falling into sleep in the car ride. In those moments, she would have them sit next to her, searching YouTube music videos that interested them to gradually bring them into the learning mode. She would listen attentively to my kids' inquiries and discussed the personal stories of the composers behind the songs they were learning. If you ask me if there were times that I had my share of doubts on her organic approach, I would have to admit it. Yes, there were moments flashing through my mind wondering if my money yielded good return when I didn't see very obvious progress. It is especially so when I came across other kids with very impressive recital songs. But deep inside my heart, I trust that a fun and nurturing learning environment would eventually foster growth and bear fruits. And in due time, the genuine love of music will compose songs that carry contagious energy.
As time goes, those ideologies are affirmed when I witnessed my kids' love of music grew ORGANICALLY. With enough techniques under his belts, my boy started to transfer his piano learning skills into other musical instruments he embraces. Recently, he fell in love with the song, "Oceans, Where Feet May Fail." He started to play by ear and eventually stitched together the whole song pretty much on his own. It's so reaffirming to witness the growth after years of investments. And we record the song for our keepsake. It is not a perfectly polished recording, nevertheless, it's a song born out of his heart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rtSUAgLKBJa2gyTV91ZTlnc1U/view?usp=sharing
If you are in a stage doubting your ideology, don't give up. Press on and remember growth takes time. May the following excerpt from Rick Warren's Purpose Drive Life bring you encouragement as you wait upon the budding moments:
“Of all the growth patterns I’ve observed as a gardener, the growth of the Chinese bamboo tree is the most amazing to me. Plant a bamboo sprout in the ground, and for four or five years (sometimes much longer) nothing happens! You water and fertilize, water and fertilize, water and fertilize –but you see no visible evidence that anything is happening. Nothing! But about the fifth year things change rather dramatically. In a six-week period the Chinese bamboo tree grows to be a staggering ninety feet tall! World Book Encyclopedia records that one bamboo plant can grow three feet in a single twenty-four-hour period. It seems incredible that a plant that lies dormant for years can suddenly explode with growth, but it happens without fail with bamboo trees.”