The Shortest Distance between Two Points
Sundays
Sometimes in the process of trying to get back on track, I have a tendency to take the scenic route and, along the way, get knocked onto a different course entirely. This is not always a bad thing. And on occasion I’m lucky enough to have it be a rather extraordinarily good one.
As I’ve written about here and elsewhere, the last few years have not always been easy and many times I’ve withdrawn. In the last couple of months, I’ve been making a concerted effort to push myself to try new ways to engage. Part of this is the result of recognizing that the fight we’re all in is going to take all of us doing things we may not be comfortable with; part of it is because I finally confronted the fact that I wasn’t doing myself or anyone else any good by withdrawing as much as I did.
To that end, I’ve been traveling almost constantly since March (if you’ve seen any of my videos you have, perhaps, noticed the rotating backdrops) to give keynote addresses, attend fundraisers, lend my support, and make new connections. Since I’m rather out of practice with some of these things—or unfamiliar with them altogether—keeping to a schedule and accommodating other aspects of my life has proven to be something of a challenge.
Changing focus doesn’t change the fundamentals of what really matters, though. And as is often the case, what I’ve gained is often a simple recognition of what I already had and life is, after all—if we’re lucky—additive.
I spent the summer before I started grad school in Florence and one day, as I was on my way to my Italian class, I saw a poster with a picture of Kyung-Wha Chung, one of my favorite violinists at the time. I was shocked to see that she was giving a recital that evening—her only performance—at the Teatro Verdi. The theatre was near Santa Croce on via Ghibellina and wasn’t too far from the apartment I was renting so on my way home I stopped there to buy a ticket. I don’t remember much about the performance, but when it was over, Chung and her pianist came back on stage and she simply said, “Stravinsky.” And then they played Section V (Dithyrambe) of the composer’s Duo Concertant for Violin and Piano and I was utterly entranced and grateful to have been so fortunate to witness something so sublime.
How wonderful. What a great experience and a great memory.
I definitely can relate to that, as I also have to reorganize myself mentally and physically. To really think about what is important. Thanks for sharing this.