Thursday Thoughts...

“No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them.” 

Alan Watts

This feels like a gentle reminder. I pondered the opening line - imagining a symphony that was really crap at the outset - discordant notes, an awful rhythm or screeching instruments - that went on to become a thing of beauty and perfectly resolved.  I imagine a listener could follow that trajectory and make some sort of sense of it but one wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

I think I am more inclined to the theory that hopefully we DO improve with age; that we get better at knowing, listening, understanding and feeling, so I was not sure about completely dismissing the notion of improvement along the way.

Then I turned again and considered how much it means to be right in the moment with music - to not be anticipating or reviewing but to simply be in it and enjoying every inch of it as it happens.  I don't listen to music trying to work out ahead of time how to better position myself for what lies ahead; I don't try to anticipate it and imagine the goal. I just listen to it. At that point.

And with that kind of approach I could come to grips with the suggestion that life shouldn't always be lived in anticipation of what the future holds; how things will be; how they will work out; where we might be; what we might do. As ever balance is the key for me - being utterly absorbed by a yet to be determined future seems a monstrous waste of the joy of the moment; yet thinking nought about the future feels reckless and risky at times.

So here I am: learning to pay attention to the here and now; trying to enjoy and celebrate the moments as they happen; with reference to the past and its lessons; and with an eye on the future and its hopes.

Celebrating the moments, in the here and now...