Gifts of Imperfections

Random Acts of Harping is held on the first weekend of June each year. This wonderful event was started by California harpist, Joanna Mell. The purpose is to share the beauty of our music with others by taking our harp to any public place and play for an hour or as long as we like freely. It can be done at one location or several locations. 

 I have participated in this event several times and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't enjoy it because I'm good at performing or that I'm confident in my abilities, far from it. I enjoy it because of the giving nature behind it all. 

 I can remember the first time I heard about the event and would not even consider taking part. I'm not a performer. I'm quite shy by nature. I'm not a good player. I'm not gifted. I started music very late in life.... and many other thoughts along the same line. I watched videos shared by others who participated in the event. Browsed the photos shared by many with their wonderful smiles and genuine delight on their faces. I read their stories. I am awed by their courage. I wondered what it would take to play for strangers. The thought of it was utterly scary and paralyzing to me. So I decided to be content to share in the joys of the event by showing support and appreciation for the courage of others. 

Overtime, I found myself more involved in the harp and then the lyre community. Along with a very close friend I met in the group, we wanted to encourage beginners to share our progress and help each other learn. This led to me recording songs and uploading them to share with the group. To my surprise wanting to encourage others resulted in courage within me. Wanting to help others learn, caused me to learn more. 

 I'm sharing this take away with you because I find that it is when I stayed too much in my head, in myself, that I stunted my own growth and limited myself. You see when we look at ourselves, we can get stuck seeing the things that are a struggle for us. We can be fixated on the things we are lacking. But when we look away with a purpose to be of service to others, we get a larger view of things. We see the needs of others are more. We search for ways to assist. Find time to help. Discover ways to share. Look for ways to lift up. 

 It is this lifting others up, that we also make our way up. You see, it would be impossible for us to pull anyone up, unless we also have made our way up. We can only teach others what we have learnt and found out about ourselves. We can only truly encourage others when we have mustered courage and strengthen ourselves first. We can only give what we have... and sometimes, we don't know what we have or what we are capable of until we have a need to use and share them. 

What I have learnt is that to help others, doesn't call for perfection, only willingness. I have also realized that it is the willing actions and disciplines, not perfection that moves the needle in so many things that matters. Perfections in this life are subjective. What is perfect for me, may not be to you. What was perfect yesterday may not be perfect today. And if we wait to be perfect before we do anything, we lose a lot of valuable time and may never get to where we want. 

The first time I participated in Random Acts of Harping, I was so scared of making mistakes, that I would be made fun of, that strangers would come to criticize me. I made lots of mistakes, but no one made fun, no one criticized. Instead, folks stopped to listen. I received generous smiles and compliments. Some stopped and chatted about why I'm playing my harp and thanked me for sharing my music with them. I felt so blessed by the experience and learnt that pure giving is pure receiving. I didn't expect to play perfectly, I just wanted to share. And those that heard me play weren't expecting a perfect performance, they were only pleasantly surprised. 

In reflection from last weekend, what I really want to share is that we should never hold back when we have something good to give. Never wait for perfection. As the good book encourages us, "Whatever we find our hands to do, do it with all our might." That is, do today just what needs doing with the best of our abilities. Don't put it off. Who knows if that little gift will be just the thing that another needs. Good gifts are not always the grandest. A kind smile to let another know that we see and appreciate them goes far more than we could ever realize. We don't need to be or do more than what we are capable of today. 

There is such a liberating joy in being imperfectly perfect when we give and do from the heart. In time, we will find that the more we do, the more we learn, the more experience we have, the better we are. And, if we find that we lack courage in ourselves, then consider encouraging someone else, because two are better than one and how much more a company of encouragers along with us. 

So play on. Keep making and sharing your beautiful music. Be the beautiful you. There is no one else like you. You have unique talents to share and there are many who would love to share theirs with you. Your courage encourages me. Let's all be wonderful encouragers of others and be encouraged ourselves 

xx Sharon 

 For more on learning the lyre harp check our website: learningthelyreharp.com

If you would like to watch my random acts of harping videos, you can find them here: