Skip to main content

This I believe: A New Instrument

Quote of the day:
"Sometimes good things fall apart, so better ones can come together"
-Marilyn Monroe


This I Believe: A New Instrument

From the small, backstage window, I could see the sky getting darker, telling me to get ready for the show to begin. My heart started to race. I imagined myself playing my almost brand-new violin in front if the crowd. I played the notes in my head over and over again -- C-C- C- D- E - E- E, C-C -C-D- E-E-- My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the music teacher. He was announcing for me to come on stage.

I pulled out my violin, still trying to play the notes in my head, but then, I looked at the crowd. They were all staring at me, waiting for me to make a move, which, in their heads, would define me as a musician.

My bow hit the violin shakingly, and I started to play -- C - C -E -D -- Dang it! Wrong note -- C - C -E -E -- Oh no! My mind was completely blank. I couldn't remember anything. By the end of the 3 minute “recital”, the music piece that I had practiced for months sounded like like a disaster. I might as well had gotten a three year old to dress up as me, and play random notes while listenin to Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. It probably would have sounded better.

I felt so ashamed that I never went to any violin lessons ever again. Anytime I played the violin, it simply felt foreign. The fact that I had failed and embarrassed myself in public didn't bother me. What hurt me the most was that even before that, no matter how much I practiced, or how many times I read a music sheet, something didn't feel right. I never truly felt confident in my violin skills. I didn't know what to do; I felt lost and untalented.

Sometime later, while at a friends house, I saw her brother playing the piano and it truly amazed me. He was playing so many different keys, and there seemed to be so many possible combinations, from the highest octave C, to the lowest pitched, intimidaring E. This was the day that I first fell in love with the piano.

I would go to my friend's house nearly every week and try to learn as much piano as I could. This was until one day for Christmas,  I got my own professional keyboard. Things finally started to make sense. All of the music skills I had learned from the violin helped me teach myself how to play piano. Now, every time I play a song, I feel like I belong there, with the beautiful, black and white keys. They combine in endless patterns to c share an emotion, in the form of a song like no other.

This, I believe. I believe that sometimes doors don't close because we do a poor job at keeping them open. Doors close so that we can look for new ones that lead us to a place where we truly belong. We should learn from these closing doors, as they remind us that nothing is permanent. There will always be a new instrument to try, or a new key to play.

Image source 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Businessman

'And what good does it do you to be rich?' 'It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are discovered.'" -From The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery  Image source Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight.If you have never read The Little Prince, I know two things about you: First, you have absolutely no idea why I am counting. Second, you should slap yourself in the face and read this mind-blowing classic! Just kidding I love you, random internet reader. So why was I counting you may ask? I am quoting a businessman from the little prince. He is a guy so focused on counting and counting his millions upon millions of stars he owns, that he never actually stops to look at them. In fact, he doesn't even stop to light his cigarette or acknowledge a new visitor. He was always so busy with "matters of conseq

Miss -information and Dice Games...

Quotes of the day: "I am America, I am the part you won't recognize, but get used to me." - Muhammad Ali  "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." - Winston Churchill "Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." -  History Books and Probability Theory  Prompt: “Some areas of knowledge seek to describe the world, whereas others seek to transform it.” Explore this claim with reference to history and one other area of knowledge. Before we begin…I have one very cliche question to ask you: If you could meet one historical figure and ask them anything, who would it be, and what would you ask? Go on, answer it! Now… tell me about this person, is it male? Female? If you mentioned your historical figure to any random passerby, would they know who you are talking about? If you came up with a woman who is not Queen Elizabeth, congratulations! You are one of the few who even mentioned a woman at all. L

Our Secret Thirst For Violence

Quote of the week: "Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes... hollow" -The Imitation Game Our Attraction to Watching School Fights It   was a Friday like any other at Carrollton High School. The cafeteria was  bustling with life.  Since it was one of the last lunch shifts of the day, you could always sense the hunger and unused energy of the students.  Our hungry classmates were trying to make the most our of the 30 minutes of free time, before having to go back back to the drudgery of lectures and classwork. My lunch table was discussing the new debate topic, unaware of what was about to happen just outside the glass doors that led to the picnic table outside. Doctor Albertus, our school principal, was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria right behind the booth we were sitting in. It was his job to make sure everything was in order. All of a