[Nine hours later, after that last post].
That’s not true, is it? That we can create our own beauty entirely on our own, independent of others. At least, it wasn’t true in the context I described it last night.
I wrote that when I was tired. When I’m tired I’m blind and often feel lonely.
This morning, I’m unsure of whether we can create our own beauty. We might need a community to create and experience it. At least, in this case, that music exists in a community. J. S. Bach lived in a community that supported him and commissioned, performed and preserved his music. Bach had a large family. Many generations of musicians and music lovers have taught, saved and passed along his music. My piano teacher, who is also a member of a larger community and tradition, assigned me that piece. A group of crafts-men and -women in a piano factory made my piano; importers brought it to the USA and sold it to the woman who would pass it along to her sister who, decades later, would give it to me, on the advice of my teacher. And I’ve been working hard on that particular piece in order to perform it in a public recital.
Truth is, in this case, my fun and beauty exists because of a community. Taken to the next level, my entire life is the result of my interactions with a community.
This blog, this exercise of finding friendly spaces, I chose to write in a public forum because I felt it would be more powerful, or maybe even vital, to do this in front of others. The reason is that I wanted to feel accountable to others and that I probably wouldn’t keep it going if I did it in private. (I just now realized that I’m doing something my ex-wife did almost 20 years ago, when she would escape into her private internet space to blog, possibly because, together, we failed to create a warm and welcoming environment in our home.)
When I’m tired, I mistakenly believe I’m alone. And, at the same time, I shut other people out.
Evidence of a friendly universe: willingness to admit it when we discover we’re wrong; willingness to change our minds; willingness to allow other people to join us in what sometimes may feel like an independent and lonely journey, but which is not. We don’t exist alone.
Evidence of a friendly universe: communities, both seen and unseen.
Q