The conversation was about "The Woodshed"..
In the lexicon of a musicians world, to "Woodshed" means to go and practice hard. Supposedly it originates from people who would go into actual woodsheds for privacy and not being disturbed so they could practice, and hone their skills without being heard by others. So for us musicians "Shedding" or "In the Woodshed" is our serious version of figuring some musical ideas out, or working on something that is giving us trouble, and we need to drill it, so that it becomes muscle memory, and is flawless. It takes a tremendous amount of time, discipline, and energy to devote to the aspect of this because it is tedious sometimes, and repetitive, and full of moments of failing whatever it is that is trying to be accomplished. There are extremely frustrating moments when you believe that you have something down to a tee, only to discover that you only have a grasp of just an aspect of what you are trying to do, and not the whole "Enchilada". It is humbling and sometimes all consuming as you look for ways to reach inside yourself , and guide your mind and body to do what you want it to, because nothing is more frustrating than your mind knowing absolutely what it needs to do, but the physical nature of what you want hasn't caught up yet. I am using music as my ground zero for this idea, but "The Woodshed" although a part of music jargon applies to way more things than just music.
Everyone who has to execute something in some way, whether it be Music, Gymnastics, Skating, other sports, Painting, Writing, or an aspect of displaying some particular skill to others, or performance individually or within a group has their own particular Woodshed that they have to retreat to in order to get better at what they do. Everyone who does something like this has a particular level that they desire to reach and the woodshed is the place where that level resides. You have to know what that level is, and you have to be committed to reaching that level and understand when it is time to retreat to the shed where you can work on it. The "Shed" is not only a physical place, such as your room, a court,or some sort of practice venue, but it is also a state of mind that you have to reach in order to attain the tenacity and accept the repetitive nature of what you are doing in order to actually be able to repeat it again and again. Which means you have to like being in the shed, because despite what performance aspects you may come across, and how much you are able to take what you do and display it to others, most of your valuable time will be spent in the shed. In fact probably 90% of what you do concerning your craft will be spent practicing. If you don't practice, don't bother, because whatever you do will be short lived anyway. You have to not only want to be in the shed practicing, you have to actually like it more than the performance aspect because the performance aspect is the end result reward. The actual journey is the practice that takes place to achieve the reward, and the journey of getting better, and seeing what you can do is where you get the meat and potatoes of your craft. Liking the shed is crucial to expanding yourself, because if you don't like practicing, then you won't with any sort of conviction. And no conviction means no intensity. And intensity is not to be turned on and off like a ceiling fan. Intensity has to be there from the shed through the execution of the end result, but practice will help you with the tenacious nature that you need to have all of the time, lying in wait..Not off, but turned down to a low volume, and blasted loudly when needed.
The shed has to be a regiment. A part of your lifestyle if you are going to be the best that you can be. If it takes an hour a day to be in the shed doing something, then make it so. If it takes more than that, or if it is once every two days, or once a week, you will make it work, if you are committed to doing what you set out. Whatever amount or frequency of time that you require to be in the shed, you have to do it. The Shed will be something that you not only want to do and like to do, but have to do, or else your equilibrium will be off, and you will feel that you have lost something. And the truth of the matter is that you will have lost something. You will have lost vital time to be better for your own sake. Not for someone else, or even in competition with someone else. In everything that we all do, there will always be someone better at something. The more you accept that, the more you can not focus on it, and just concentrate on the aspect of your own self, and what you need to do. Worrying about , and focusing on someone else and what they do, only makes you weaker, and takes your energy away from yourself. It is a backdoor empowerment aspect for someone else when you try to figure out what they are doing.
Whatever you do, your shed should be your shed alone. if you have desire, commitment, goals, and a belief in yourself, you will do what it takes to execute, realize your flaws, and go to the shed to focus. It is you who has to push yourself in the long run. People can motivate you, inspire you, and encourage with great support, but in the end you will reach a plateau, and a crossroads..Continue onward to get better, or settle, and be satisfied. There awaits the shed. To greet you with open arms or to be intimidating and something to be feared. Being in the woodshed is the happiest place to be because there is only one person to please. Yourself, and usually The biggest critic is ones self, but that is good because trying to be the best you can be for only yourself is the greatest feeling in the world. Make the woodshed a refuge, and happy place for yourself, and you will shine in the end, and even if no one on the outside of the shed notices, the person on the inside of the shed is the one that matters the most. Take him or her to the limits. The reward is you. ....And that is exactly how it should be.
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