figuring it out

i am sitting in my living room, dog at my side (don't tell my husband that he is on the couch with me...seriously) and just listening.  i have heard the same portion of a phrase of music over twenty times.  i absolutely love it.  i am hearing my son try to get the mind and fingers and instrument to align together on these few notes.  it is not perfect.  heck, it is not even pretty to listen to...but he is trying and learning and that is a beautiful sound.

it reminds me of my school years where i sounded TERRIBLE on the flute, but boy, did i want to figure that thing out.  i wanted to make my fingers work so i would not have to think about them while my body was trying to figure out what it needed to do to have a crystal-pure tone.  i would go in my room and close the door and stay there for hours, working on the same song over and over.  (sorry, mom...you must have been sick of 'windy' and me trying to play the melodies on the radio!)

the feeling of figuring something out...of getting past the technical to the musical...of conquering something you could not do before...that is a part of experiencing life...i love it.  (and he is playing better now that he was just a half-hour ago!)