The arts teach one how to look at problems in life and succeed. Learning to successfully move through problems is an important soft skill everyone needs if they are to achieve their goals.
I’ve always been intrigued by this 17th century haiku by Japanese poet and samurai, Mizuta Masahide:
Barn’s burnt down — now I can see the moon.
The haiku reminds me of a magnificent concert I experienced many years ago. The performance was exhilarating. At the final chord, the conductor motioned for everyone to end what was to be a resounding and reverberating conclusion to the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah, but wait—something was wrong. Everyone ended expertly except for the deep, low-pitched fundamental note on the organ. It kept sounding even though the performer stopped playing.
Have you ever been in a situation where everything was perfect and suddenly something happened—there was a shocking turn of events that felt like it changed everything?
The conductor gave the organist a look of panic and motioned again for the note to cut-off. The note kept going. He turned to face the organist now, motioning for the sound to end, ignoring all the other performers who had already finished their performance. What now? Finally, he motioned and yelled at the same time—turn it off…turn it off!
The organist turned off the power to the instrument and the sound gradually died away; the note sagged lower and lower in pitch and ended weakly as the air in the pipe lost its momentum.
The audience laughed at the predicament, but it didn’t negatively impact the fact that they were exhilarated by the performance. They understood that there was clearly a problem with the instrument. It had little impact on the overall power of the performance. In fact, the problem seemed to deepen the joy of the musical experience. When the sound finally died away in a halfhearted, meager surrender, there was at first a moment of silence as the conductor and organist stood facing the audience, terribly distressed by their dilemma. Suddenly, there was thunderous applause, a standing ovation, and several appreciative curtain calls. It was a beautiful ruined moment.
When things are perfect, that’s when you need to worry most.
~ Drew Barrymore
As the applause grew, the embarrassed conductor and organist, along with the entire ensemble of musicians, finally realized that the beauty came from the entire experience. The performers and more than 1500 people in the audience had together, as a community, experienced something transformative. Handel, who wrote the “Hallelujah Chorus,” created a musical score that is rich with imaginative energy. It is astonishingly expressive, and it was performed at the highest level. The note on the organ failed at the end, but it couldn’t match the beauty of everything that happened along the way.
Artists gain an awareness that, day after day, they must face problems often in a very public way. Awareness is the first step in acknowledging any life challenge. Think about how you might be responding to a negative circumstance or a situation with another person. What are your initial feelings? Why are you feeling this way? What is the bigger picture? Stop for a moment before you react. Can you see the moon?
There are many soft skills one can learn from experiences in the arts. Consider enrolling in my online course designed for anyone who wants to find new ways to enrich your life and reach your goals —https://artsawarenessexpressions.teachable.com/p/h…
If you teach music and would like ideas about how to incorporate deeper learning in your band and orchestra rehearsals, consider enrolling my online course—Transform Your Band and Orchestra Rehearsals from Ordinary to Extraordinary— https://artsawarenessexpressions.teachable.com/p/r....
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Dr. Patricia Hoy