Although not everyone can build a mind palace, everyone can – no, everyone should have some form of art or music in their lives.
Let’s face it: between work and most television there’s simply too muchnoisein the world.
I’ve already told you that I judge people by their books. The second thing I generally notice is their taste in art and music – or their lack thereof.
Most people listen to some form of music, even if it is Pop Top 40. I suppose there’s nothing necessarily bad about that, but neither is it best. At some point, everything starts sounding the same. If you’re addicted to “modern” music, try listening to Vitamin String Quartet, Piano Guys, or some other similar group that plays contemporary music in a classical style (and minus those annoying and mostly unintelligible lyrics!).
However, people exist who don’t listen to anything. They watch sitcoms, dramas, sports, and pundits and never take the time to just listen to something. I would; music “soothes the savage beast,” after all.
Take a trip through Eastern Europe via The Moldau:
Save the damsel in distress with The Magic Flute:
Let Rhapsody in Blue transport you back to the Jazz Age:
Then, turn on something like Pandora or Spotify and lose yourself in the magic of music mixed with modern technology.
Art, though, is a bit more subjective. I understand not everyone likes Renaissance Masters. Some people like Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Chuck Close. I do not.
My heart breaks, though, for those that have no art – not even the dollar-store white-elephant-gift variety. In this, there’s something to be said for coffee-table books. I know: most people just leave them on a table or shelf just to look good. But please – for the love of all that is good – pick one up. I don’t care if its about art or muscle cars or coffee tables themselves. Pick up a book.
My daily runs are normally used to relieve stress. Sometimes I recite poetry (in my head) or reflect on a particular quote. Other times I ruminate on something I heard or read. And sometimes all those things go out the window and I end up focusing on something I regret. Today was one of those days.
I took violin lessons for ten years. For an entire decade, my mother drove me half an hour every week for an half-hour lesson, paying in both time and money for a musical education that I didn’t always appreciate. I wish now that I had practiced more, and done more.
College called and I didn’t make time for practice. My status as a history major meant that I was second fiddle to the music majors and had to receive special permission to use the practice rooms. Therefore, I did what any self-respecting college freshman on his own for the first time would do: nothing. I never pursued the forms needed in order to keep up my talent. I wish now that I had.
It has now been nine years since I last devoted any serious time to the violin. I have tried to play on several occasions: special music for church, accompanying our school choir on some chorale pieces, and a short-lived attempt what folks here in N.C. call a “gospel sing” (they wanted country fiddle, I played classical violin, and that was that).
But now I wish I had done more. My wife finally has her piano in our house, and she’s picking up right where she left off. My cousin – who could be a legitimate contender for a Julliard scholarship – has been spending quite a bit of time putting together arrangements for 4 hands and violin. They want to play Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera and Lord of the Rings. But I can’t play like I used to, and I know it.
Ignoring the problem won’t solve anything. I haven’t even opened my violin case in two years; part of me doesn’t even want to know what condition that poor instrument is in. But there comes a time when a decision must be made, and for me that time is know. Another school year is passed, summer break is starting, and I’ll have a few hours each day that I could – if I so choose – devote to getting back in musical shape.
And so I resolve the following:
I will go home and open my violin case.
I will assess the damage (if any) and have it professionally cleaned/repaired/restored
I will try to play something at least five times a week for the next three months.
I will appreciate the music more the second time around.
Author’s Note: I opened the case and the violin is fine. The bow, however, will need to be either restrung or replaced. Until that is done, resolution no. 3 will have to wait.
Running In My Head 