Greatest Joy; Biggest Pain

The Greatest Joy? New Strings.
The Biggest Pain? New Strings.
Life is like that.

Often great joys and big pains seem to come together. Have you ever noticed that? In my cynical moments I thinks it’s the Universe’s way of making sure I don’t have too much unalloyed joy all at once. After all, if I ever experience “Heaven on Earth,” what will be left for hopeful anticipation? Of course in my optimistic moments I think it’s the Universe’s way of making sure I don’t have too much pain without any enabling consolation. After all, if I get too “Bummed Out,” how will I ever have strength enough for hope?

Theologically, I suppose we could say that “Balance” is the Universe’s way of keeping us, well, in Balance.

But I suspect it’s simpler than that, and a new set of violin strings give us a really good clue.

The old strings are old. They’ve vibrated and stretched, and stretched and vibrated through countless musical notes. As the hymn goes, they are tired, weak, and worn. No zing. No “life” in the old string. The good news is they pretty much stay in tune. The bad news is it’s a tired tune.

Ah, but the new strings! Full of life, bursting with energy, whether it be the quiet, sonorous, mellow hum of the G, or the bright, joyous cry of the E. Put them on, and you and your instrument vibrate together in a new way – joy has arrived.

For a moment. The problem is new strings are, well, new. They have to be “broken in” like a new car, or a baseball glove, or a new relationship. They’ve never been on a violin before, so they’ve never had to settle in. They have lots of “Give” to give at first. It’s a new experience for them, as well as for you, so you might as well all enjoy it together.

Anything new is like that in life – it takes a bit of time and patience to settle in before it becomes truly beautiful.

~ Will