You Don’t Work The Piano

You play the piano. You don’t work the piano.

The same for taking a trip. You go to a destination. On the other hand, a song isn’t all about getting to the ending. Otherwise, music would be a race to the final note.

We’re told it’s the journey and not the destination. We still hit all the milestones. We celebrate the graduations and job promotions and whatever else. But how often do we stop to make sure we enjoy what we’re doing while we’re doing it?

Sometimes I worry I haven’t done it enough.

I’ve got Alan Watts on my mind and his “You play the piano” piece. In it he says,

…we simply cheated ourselves the whole way down the line.Because we thought of life by analogy with a journey, with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at that end, and the thing was to get to that thing at that end. Success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you’re dead.But we missed the point the whole way along.It was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played.

It’s a performance. Play your heart out.