Your podcast and this post are maybe the most incredibly moving words I’ve heard in a long time. As a woman who devoted many hours of my youth playing the piano and listening to my parents playing classical music this brought back some sweet memories. More importantly to me, your writing is exquisite and inspiring. So glad I’ve found you on both platforms.
Imperfection in performance is so, so important! The most moved I've ever felt was in a concert of a superstar artist who'd been performing and selling records for 3 decades at this point... he started singing the first song, and it sounded... wrong. Off. I couldn't believe my ears, surely he knew how to sing?? But he HAD been singing off-key... About one third into the song, something shifted, and he sang strong, beautiful, clear and most certainly, in key again, for the rest of the concert.
That moment stayed with me until I got it. He was nervous. Scared.
And that moment, that insight, gave me permission "show up" in life, even if I was scared all the time. Because if this man, who could plaster his walls with golden records, was STILL scared going on stage after 30 years of doing that, to a room full of people who WANTED to see him play and had paid good money to do so,... I figured that it was probably okay to be scared, and not a sign of moral failure on my behalf.
I remember only one of his own songs from that concert, but all the other ones have faded. The other one that stayed in my memory was another one where he showed himself to be vulnerable. Before he played the Beatles' "Hey Jude", he said, "Here's a song I didn't write, but I wish I had."
Your podcast and this post are maybe the most incredibly moving words I’ve heard in a long time. As a woman who devoted many hours of my youth playing the piano and listening to my parents playing classical music this brought back some sweet memories. More importantly to me, your writing is exquisite and inspiring. So glad I’ve found you on both platforms.
So glad you’re here! Thanks for your encouraging words.
Imperfection in performance is so, so important! The most moved I've ever felt was in a concert of a superstar artist who'd been performing and selling records for 3 decades at this point... he started singing the first song, and it sounded... wrong. Off. I couldn't believe my ears, surely he knew how to sing?? But he HAD been singing off-key... About one third into the song, something shifted, and he sang strong, beautiful, clear and most certainly, in key again, for the rest of the concert.
That moment stayed with me until I got it. He was nervous. Scared.
And that moment, that insight, gave me permission "show up" in life, even if I was scared all the time. Because if this man, who could plaster his walls with golden records, was STILL scared going on stage after 30 years of doing that, to a room full of people who WANTED to see him play and had paid good money to do so,... I figured that it was probably okay to be scared, and not a sign of moral failure on my behalf.
I remember only one of his own songs from that concert, but all the other ones have faded. The other one that stayed in my memory was another one where he showed himself to be vulnerable. Before he played the Beatles' "Hey Jude", he said, "Here's a song I didn't write, but I wish I had."
Somehow, the work of art is itself imperfect until it has another creature to interact with it? Thanks for sharing.
Love that idea. Thanks for reading!
Beautiful thoughts and a touching lesson. For me it’s when a poem or a painting strikes a chord in my soul.
Hope to write about a painting next week!
Exquisitely said.
(Fixable do is ridiculous.)
Finding a teacher and/or coach who can assist in connecting to togetherness the way you described is priceless.
Thank you!