“Everything that has happened had to happen. Everything that must happen cannot be stopped.” -Wayne Dyer

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

Since court reporters are often compared to musicians, I thought this quote was interesting and apropos:

“I use to practice so much, and I developed a theory that when you practice all the time, you really remember ten percent of whatever you’re working on; the other ninety percent is about chops maintenance. So if you practice a hundred things, you’ll absorb ten of them, and if you practice a thousand things, you’ll absorb one hundred, and if you practice ten thousand things, you’ll have a thousand. I figured the more I absorbed, the less chance there was that I’d run out of ideas, and if I had a lot of licks in my bloodstream, I could just bounce from one thing to another, and it’d sound okay. And I think it works. Sometimes, I’ll be on a long gig, like six hours over six sets, and I’ll never run out of licks.” George Benson speaking to Miles Davis

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“As children learning language, we all undergo the same process. At first we experience a level of frustration- we have desires and needs we wish to express, but we lack the words. Slowly we pick up phrases and absorb patterns of speech. We accumulate vocabulary, word by word. Some of this is tedious but we are impelled by our intense curiosity and hunger for knowledge. At a certain point we attain a level of fluency in which we can communicate as fast as we think. Soon we don’t have to think at all- words come naturally, and at times when we are inspired, they flow out of us in ways we cannot be avoided. There are no shortcuts.

Learning language sets the pattern for all human activities- purely intellectual or physical. To master a musical instrument or a game we begin at the lowest level of competence. The game seems boring as we have to learn the rules and play on a simple level. As with learning language, we feel frustrated. We see others play well and we imagine how that could feel, but we are locked in this mode of tedious practice and repetition. At such a point we either give in to our frustration and give up the process, or we proceed, intuiting the power that lies just around the corner. Slowly our ability rises and the frustration lowers. We don’t need to think so much; we are surprised by our fluency and connections that come to us in a flash.

Once we reach a certain level of mastery, we see there are higher levels and challenges. If we are disciplined and patient, we proceed. At each higher level, new pleasures and insights await us- ones not even suspected when we started out. We can take this as far as we want- in any human activity there is always a higher level to which we can aspire.” -From, “The 50th Law” By: 50 Cent & Robert Greene

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“Be not afraid to go slowly, be only afraid of standing still.” -Proverb

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“I always told the musicians in my band to play with what they know, and then to play above that. Because anything can happen, and that’s where great art and music happens.” -Miles Davis

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. They achieve it. They don’t achieve it unwittingly, by doing what comes naturally, and they don’t stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves. All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.” -John Gardner

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“When love and skill work together expect a masterpiece.” -Kevin Clash

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“It’s not enough to have a talent or a dream. That gives you a great start, but it’s working at it, perfecting it that makes you a success. The gift alone doesn’t get you there.” -Kevin Clash

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

“A man is worked on by what he works on. He may carve out his circumstances, but his circumstances will carve him out as well.” -Frederick Douglass

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega