LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSEL…BUT THE ULTIMATE RECITAL!

A year or so ago, I had a first class seat on “cloud 9″….My emotions were flowing and ebbing, which can be the norm for me in a creative state and I engaged in all the romance, day dreaming, and appreciation I could handle. My “boat was afloat”, so to speak, traveling down canals I had never navigated before, I now know, I should have taken that course in directional boating….Might have saved me tons of struggling to determine “what is the right thing to do or say“, “which channel do I navigate in” and “how do I tread water when it feels if my heart and soul are sinking“?

I actually assumed perhaps, I was living my “Bliss”….and I felt I truly was. My creative spirit was introduced to a total stranger, who in turn introduced me to the beauty of the sound of an orchestra. Yes, I have heard an orchestra before, in movies, at plays, on CD’s….but I didn’t know the difference between hearing and listening….now I know. And the difference is huge. If you have a minute, I would love to explain my “eclectic” take ….ready?

Each instrument, percussion, horns, keyboard or wind ….have their own role to play in a given arrangement….as we each do. Each melodious instrument has it’s own distinct sound, and with the help of direction…(rules, knowledge and goals), those sounds are played to perfection, providing the one playing “practices ….practice makes perfect“. When you combine each of those different “noises” with one another, it produces a symphony of noises, ergo a concert, musical composition, a backdrop to enhance other performers talents, like dancers or magicians or story tellers…..

Most of us focus our ears on lyrics if there are any….or the total sound of all the instruments in unison….we hear the complete rendition, the entire performance collectively….

Last month, I began, with the help of that friend to depict the individual sounds of each instrument….for example, a flute defines, a piano leads, percussion brings attention to the piece, a harp or violin bring the breeze, the softness, the delicacy of sound as if the composition is caressed with a feather. Each role is so much like the roles within our lives.

For example we have the violin people….that gently dust our souls; the percussionists that scream…”Hey, hear me! Pay attention to me!….The Flutist folks, accent the minute details they direct the focus of the melody….accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, they are the adjectives that add the flourish. Of course there are also those in the Brass section, those who blast out their ideas, straightforwardly, demanding to be heard in a crowd, and lastly the pianist,the keyboarders, no not skateboarders, we’re talking music here people, are the leaders, they give the balance to all the other combinations…they flow,ebb and sway to the moments of life’s rhythems just as a pianist dances with the ivories!

I never before saw people as instruments, although, the hymn “Let There Be Peace On Earth”.…is not only referred to as the prayer of St Francis, a divine lover and patron saint of animals,but as a combination of what this world should look like, if all people were in sync, if all the “instruments” were finely tuned and following the scales in life and practiced their talents on a daily basis Amazing, really, I am sure most musicians would be able to understand this analogy perfectly and even include the other instruments I am not so familiar with. Hmmmmm I wonder if I would be an oboe or a piccolo…or perhaps a trumpet? Interesting.

It makes perfect sense, a conductor ( God) perfectly directs the orchestra(people) and when they play in synchronization, the melody is amazing…. The efforts of each combine for the excellence of all…..sweet, huh?

So the next time you are hearing music, think about this analogy and open your ears to learn to “listen”.…and amazingly so, you’ll begin to hear the melody in everyday life, the birds singing in the early morning (Get up, get going), the music of the passing traffic zipping down the highway, the music of the waves lapping the shore’s edge in tune with the wind and currents and perhaps you also will begin to feel and see the harmony of life about us, in everyone, in everything….the musical composition of the world orchestrated by a fabulous Maestro….and soon your perspective will begin to change, you’ll begin to feel the joy in the smallest things, you’ll be able to feel the peace that only a symphony of sound can bring into your life.

It’s now time for me, to return to my music….no, it’s not really mine, my ears are just borrowing it for a time, it’s my way to begin anew after wiping my slate clean. What are your methods, will you share them here? Will you express your thoughts, your concerns, your dreams and fantasies? Become your own conductor of your “one man band” and perhaps one day, that band will be united with others and before you can blink an eye, you will be playing the melodies of the worlds finest orchestra…I sure would like to be one of the first to have front row seats at the recital of your new life, your new beginning….For just a moment in time, my favorite quote rang so true: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”.…for these actualization’s and symbolic comparisons, thank you Maestro, you have been a fabulous teacher!