Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sculpting a Life

One of the things that is truly marvelous about life, is that it is both short and long at the same time.  Moment to moment, we have a seemingly infinite opportunity to do good, grow, stagnate, ignore, love, create, or cry.  The measure of shortness is, as I see it, a reflection our perceptions of the unexplored, under-utilized and missed opportunities that the universe holds.  There is so much to do.

And yet, in a life, there is an equilibrium.  Push in on direction too much and there is strain and tension created.  Add something to the mix and there is a new equilibrium that must be found.

I lived almost four decades of life before I began to play the shakuhachi.  The flute entered my home for find children, careers, pets, and a rich fabric of life.  So where does it fit?

As romantic a notion as it may be to imagine practicing this instrument 1-2 hours or more every day, travelling to train with renowned teachers, it would be foolish in the context of my life.

Certainly, it is an instrument that requires a certain focus and attention to develop proficiency in, and I want to be able to do it justice.

I have never truly studied an instrument under a teacher's guidance.  I love what I do play, but there is a level of growth I would very much like to push beyond with the shakuhachi.

So, where does ti fit?

Like anything in my life, I am continually discovering the response to that.

Response.  Not answer.

Whenever I think I have an answer, it crumbles.  Sculpting this life is far too dynamic for something so concrete as an absolute, all-certain answer.

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