Who did it and why? - The journey to the next note
Since I am writing on Sunday morning the reader can correctly assume that this morning I listened to the NPR show, On Being, hosted by Krista Tippett. This morning’s guest was the world famous cellist, Yo Yo Ma.
While listening to the interview I am not surprised to hear that we both began life with a curiosity about the world or, as he phrases it, “Who did it and why?” Whether he was looking at the difference between the roofs in France and those he discovered in the United States, the difference between the violin, the first instrument he played as a child and the huge base he saw in a museum or how one was going to travel the space between one note to the next, he seemed to be as excited about the journey as he was about the particular roof, instrument or note.
It is not surprising that when performing at one of the great concert halls or some very simple space he honors his role as a host of his guests, the audience. It is also not surprising that this man whose awards and accolades are too numerous to mention loved Fred Rogers and being a part of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood as much as he loved and admired the fact that Julia Child would just say after dropping the chicken on the floor, “Oh, the chicken's fallen on the floor! Yes. Oh, well pick it up and put it right back.”
I am equally enamored of the fact that he knows that his strength is only in his willingness to be vulnerable. I think this is what differentiates the person who merely learns to play the notes of music written by Bach and the person who is willing to allow the notes which Bach has written to connect with his all the emotions with which Bach wrote the music and the emotions with which he, Yo Yo Ma, experiences the music. The cello is the instrument which melds together that note and those emotions before they touches Yo Yo and his guests, the audience. Although in this interview at least he does not talk about how he now experiences that note as expressed through the cello and experienced by the audience I am sure that he is also changed in this process which, in turn changes the next note. It is in this space between the notes or what artists call negative space where this melding and interactional transformation takes place.
Some, including Mrs. Tippett, talked about the joy which Yo Yo Ma seems to exude when performing. It also seems present in this interview. Perhaps that is because he is constantly on the same treasure hunt he began as a little boy in Paris- that treasure hunt which wants to know “Who did it and why?”. It is also not surprising as a undergraduate student he studied anthropology.
I cannot help but wonder what allows people as Yo Yo Ma, Julia Child, or Fred Rogers to hold on to that childlike curiosity and excitement about being present with and exploring the relationship between the notes of life whether it is a roof, music, building a community or encouraging children to value what they have in common with each other and what is unique about each of them. Fred Rogers had that faith that each child was special in his or her own right - that each child was a delightful miracle and each moment with each child as they moved to the next note of life was to be experienced as precious. In my mind this does not mean that each moment is joyful but there Is or can be the joy of being with each other and mother earth even as one shares moments of sadness, pain and disappointment. There is nothing to fear. Certainly there is music which demands that we either run or allow it to reach deep into the heart of one’s pain. What is the word which describes the richness of even that moment of existential angst? Certainly one could describe it as real or alive or having depth.
Perhaps it was party the Buddhist influence of Yo Yo Ma’s father which gave him the courage to be present to all moments – of being with each note and being with that space between the notes.
This, of course, is the goal of recovery from addiction or of healing from trauma – to fully experience the pain rather than running from it. It seems we humans have a tendency to succumb to the fear of being with the discomfort of pain or the discomfort of the illusion of being able to control what is going to happen. After all, the chicken may fall on the floor. The string on the precious instrument might break. The electricity which will carry the notes or light the hall might suddenly fail. Oh well! Just pick up the chicken and proceed. That was the lesson of Julia Child, of Fred Rogers, Yo Yo Ma and all the rest of those whose courage is ready to carry us from one note to the next.
Written March 6, 2016
Who did it and why? - The journey to the next note
Since I am writing on Sunday morning the reader can correctly assume that this morning I listened to the NPR show, On Being, hosted by Krista Tippett. This morning’s guest was the world famous cellist, Yo Yo Ma.
While listening to the interview I am not surprised to hear that we both began life with a curiosity about the world or, as he phrases it, “Who did it and why?” Whether he was looking at the difference between the roofs in France and those he discovered in the United States, the difference between the violin, the first instrument he played as a child and the huge base he saw in a museum or how one was going to travel the space between one note to the next, he seemed to be as excited about the journey as he was about the particular roof, instrument or note.
It is not surprising that when performing at one of the great concert halls or some very simple space he honors his role as a host of his guests, the audience. It is also not surprising that this man whose awards and accolades are too numerous to mention loved Fred Rogers and being a part of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood as much as he loved and admired the fact that Julia Child would just say after dropping the chicken on the floor, “Oh, the chicken's fallen on the floor! Yes. Oh, well pick it up and put it right back.”
I am equally enamored of the fact that he knows that his strength is only in his willingness to be vulnerable. I think this is what differentiates the person who merely learns to play the notes of music written by Bach and the person who is willing to allow the notes which Bach has written to connect with his all the emotions with which Bach wrote the music and the emotions with which he, Yo Yo Ma, experiences the music. The cello is the instrument which melds together that note and those emotions before they touches Yo Yo and his guests, the audience. Although in this interview at least he does not talk about how he now experiences that note as expressed through the cello and experienced by the audience I am sure that he is also changed in this process which, in turn changes the next note. It is in this space between the notes or what artists call negative space where this melding and interactional transformation takes place.
Some, including Mrs. Tippett, talked about the joy which Yo Yo Ma seems to exude when performing. It also seems present in this interview. Perhaps that is because he is constantly on the same treasure hunt he began as a little boy in Paris- that treasure hunt which wants to know “Who did it and why?”. It is also not surprising as a undergraduate student he studied anthropology.
I cannot help but wonder what allows people as Yo Yo Ma, Julia Child, or Fred Rogers to hold on to that childlike curiosity and excitement about being present with and exploring the relationship between the notes of life whether it is a roof, music, building a community or encouraging children to value what they have in common with each other and what is unique about each of them. Fred Rogers had that faith that each child was special in his or her own right - that each child was a delightful miracle and each moment with each child as they moved to the next note of life was to be experienced as precious. In my mind this does not mean that each moment is joyful but there Is or can be the joy of being with each other and mother earth even as one shares moments of sadness, pain and disappointment. There is nothing to fear. Certainly there is music which demands that we either run or allow it to reach deep into the heart of one’s pain. What is the word which describes the richness of even that moment of existential angst? Certainly one could describe it as real or alive or having depth.
Perhaps it was party the Buddhist influence of Yo Yo Ma’s father which gave him the courage to be present to all moments – of being with each note and being with that space between the notes.
This, of course, is the goal of recovery from addiction or of healing from trauma – to fully experience the pain rather than running from it. It seems we humans have a tendency to succumb to the fear of being with the discomfort of pain or the discomfort of the illusion of being able to control what is going to happen. After all, the chicken may fall on the floor. The string on the precious instrument might break. The electricity which will carry the notes or light the hall might suddenly fail. Oh well! Just pick up the chicken and proceed. That was the lesson of Julia Child, of Fred Rogers, Yo Yo Ma and all the rest of those whose courage is ready to carry us from one note to the next.
Written March 6, 2016
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