Sour Notes
A journalist was quoted as saying "there's no such thing as a sour note, because that note can always be used as the first note of a new symphony". That is, if we remember to think about every note as a beginning, or something to learn from, or something to surround with new, better notes, there are no sour notes. If we can maintain our positive attitudes, every person, event or moment can be harmonized with the other parts of our lives. If a note appears sour or discordant, if it doesn't fit with the melody of our lives, we can change keys so that the note becomes a part of a new melody.
We should also be reminded not to think about things in isolation. We should think about things as part of a continuum. Beauty is often determined by context. A note that might be sour in one context can be beautiful in another. It's the same with people, events, moments. When I think about the past, I often think about "sour notes" but realize that many of the notes, whether people or events or moments, that I thought of as sour were actually beautiful. They may be beautiful from my perspective now or they may be beautiful because they were the beginning of something beautiful. The important thing is that they aren't really sour no matter how they appeared at the time.
And even if, by any measure, there were sour notes, we must remember that the sour can be replaced by the sweet and, if we adopt a positive view, the sweet will follow swiftly. Even when we look at the worst moments of our lives, we must remember that they are only moments; the symphony of our lives, if you will, contains many notes and it is our duty to make the symphony harmonious and productive.
It's more and more obvious to me that to dwell on bad moments and relive those moments is counter-productive. It's as if we get stuck on one note rather than playing the rest of the composition.
Try to make every note part of the sweetness that is our lives. And if it doesn't fit, learn from and discard it.
6-12-06
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