Overheard my nephew say he's 'too old' to start learning piano at 22

I was at my sister's house last weekend and her kid, who just turned 22, told me he wished he could play piano but it's too late to start. I almost choked on my coffee. I'm 47 and I bought a used Casio keyboard off Facebook Marketplace for $60 about 6 months ago. I can play maybe 3 chords badly and I'm still working through a beginner book from the library. It made me think about how I gave up on wanting to be an artist back in high school because I thought I missed some imaginary deadline for getting good. Has anyone else run into this weird mental block where you convince yourself a dream has an expiration date, even when nobody's enforcing it?

3 comments

3 Comments

anderson.piper7d ago

Oh man, the imaginary deadline thing hits hard. My brother told me at 30 that he was too old to learn guitar and now he's 55 and still doesn't play. Meanwhile I just bought a $40 ukulele from a pawn shop and my cat leaves the room every time I try to tune it. That nephew of yours could be shredding by the time he turns 23 if he just starts now.

wren6386d ago

Honestly that "deadline isn't real" part got me because I used to think 25 was the cutoff for everything.

the_alice7d ago

Ha! Your cat leaving the room is way better than what happens when I try to play my Casio - my dog just gives me this look of pure disappointment and sighs. But seriously, that nephew of yours has no idea how much time he's got. At 22 you can still learn pretty much anything if you put in the hours. I'm 47 and my brain feels like it's running on dial-up most days, but even I can tell I'm slowly getting better at those three chords I know. The real kicker is that the actual deadline isn't real at all - it's just that voice in your head telling you you're too old, and that voice is a liar.