Inspiration

So I have been silent for quite some time. On the last day of April (indeed the last hour), I am making only my third post of the entire month. There is no real reason for the stillness of my proverbial quill. I have not been prohibitively busy, nor have I suffered from a lack of potential content. Quite frankly, I just didn't feel like it. I wasn't inspired.

I found myself thinking a lot about inspiration tonight. I accompanied my father and eldest brother to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to hear three pieces of varying ages, lengths, and popularities. They also had varying degrees of impact on me. The first was short and uncomplicated. It has an eerie, otherworldly tone and unexpected percussion beats. It sounded like a blend of good and bad, happy and sad. Not a binary, heterogeneous mixture. But blended, like both at the same time. How like life.

The second piece left me cold. In fact, I barely remember it. But the pianist stole the show, if only for his mannerisms. He was a caricature of himself.

The third piece, however, was a storyteller itself, for that is the nature of a symphony. It started out like a battle between a protagonist and an oppressor. The first movement ended with our protagonist in depressing defeat. The second began with a sort of melancholy resignedness, peaked with the hint of something better, and decreased again to a close. The third brought tentative hope and decided playfulness, as though the protagonist had decided to throw off oppression. Finally, the fourth movement brought another battle; this one far more joyful as the protagonist rises up and is triumphant - not in a military or gloating way, but more as the euphoria of survival.

Music is one of those things that both comes from inspiration - that of the composer - and can generate inspiration - among the audience. It can lift you up and bring you down. It can remind you of times gone by or bring you hope for the future. Music can make you think of a special someone or a long lost friend. But mostly, music makes you think about yourself.

While live music tends to be enjoyed collectively, it remains a solitary activity. You hear and process it in the confines of your own mind. You alone know its nostalgias and what thoughts it conjures up. I hadn't sat and really listened to music in a long time. I am grateful for the reminder of its power.

Tonight, for me, it was inspiring. To write, to think, to be.