The Arts Teach the Beauty of Imperfection

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. 

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