The practice rooms sit in a row in the basement, with thin walls and no windows. We can hear everyone. We tell ourselves the sound only travels one direction. We do real work in that room — verifiable, specific progress we can hear for ourselves. And still, underneath it, a question keeps circling. Will it be enough.

There is something we do before a big performance that we almost never talk about. We make it smaller than it is. This is not carelessness. It is a very specific kind of preparation. And it costs more than it saves.