Doing It with Others

It’s different doing it (whatever the it is) with others than doing “it” alone.

Whatever the “it” may be, the very doing of it with others makes it of a different order altogether.  Acting in concert transforms the action into something it would not have otherwise been.  It’s not simply that we do the “it” either alone or with others.  By acting with others, as opposed to alone, the very “it” is itself changed.

Yesterday I sat in a group of musicians, average age 12.  As part of my cello lessons, I was included, with the other few adults, in the concert recital.

But because of my grown-up duties, I had been unable to attend the group rehearsal, so had only the brief warm-up before the concert to actually play with the other instruments.

Thus, when the piano accompaniment came along and we were clipping along at a different tempo, I was lost.  When other instruments near me were playing melody to my harmony lines, I was totally thrown.

I had practiced for a solo, but was being called to play in concert.

The cello is an orchestral instrument.

Like the cello, we human beings were crafted to be orchestral instruments playing symphonies, with the rare solo moment, made even more special for the symphonic surround.

There is little, if any, point, to practicing for a solo existence when I was crafted to live and act and have my being in community.