Learning a musical instrument to a high degree of proficiency. What's a "high degree of proficiency"? Obviously somewhat subjective but I'd argue its one of:

Learning a musical instrument to a high degree of proficiency. What's a "high degree of proficiency"? Obviously somewhat subjective but I'd argue its one of: 1) being able to play intermediate to advanced pieces in the standard repetoire. In the case of my instrument, piano, it's being able to play Bach, Brahms, Debussy, Bill Evans, T Monk, etc. 2) being able to think of a musical phrase and then play it on your instrument without much/any guesswork. My parents forced me to take piano lessons - classical - for 6 years starting when I was 9. I hated it. When they finally let me stop we moved across the country and I fell in with some new friends, one who played bass and the other drums. They would regularly get together to do something called 'jam', which I'd never heard of. They invited me and although I only knew one non-classical piece - a simple blues - the feeling of playing/making music with other people was electrifying. I ran home and asked my mom if I could start taking lessons again - this time jazz. I went on to attend a music school for undergrad and have never stopped playing, picking up guitar, bass and drums along the way. Playing/making music has been one of the greatest sources of comfort and pleasure. I don't often get depressed but on those rare occasions when I do, being able to sit at my piano and play something like [0] is the best medicine. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGjguSEmcg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGjguSEmcg