AWAKENED “BY CHILDREN’S HUMANITY”

“Before I realised that yes – this is the moment when I am supposed to play a piece in front of audience – suddenly the piece is finished… Why is the present moment so short and what goes on in our heads is like a film – is it still the present here…..??…
Why, when I switch off my attention for a moment – my fingers stop obeying me…? And why did I know all this as a small child and now, when I am older everything is somewhat more difficult, less automatic….???”

These are the questions of small folks, who learn how to play the piano…
Of course there are many more.. I always try to remember them however there are a lot of different perceptions and my head does not have enough time to process them… But they are all surely thought provoking..
Certainly.. we have some sort of our own world in our heads and there‘s probably no way of escaping it… Hm. If we could step out of our body at least for a while and see the world from some other side! If only it was possible to see ourselves from the perspective of somebody else… Who knows what we would actually think about ourselves. Probably we would understand other people better, probably it would open our eyes to our perception of relationships, probably we would eventually not understand ourselves at all, or would not want to understand… Maybe we would find ourselves strange,…?? Who knows…
However this happens to us only through the situations which we experience. It is usually other people who bring our attention to one thing or another – even though – yes – sometimes, we don’t like it and we try to blame the external world. However people are mirrors to each other. Whether we want to or not, we attract exactly those people and those situations that happen to us and that sometimes “give us headache”. These are the everyday lessons which arrive.. some of them repeat themselves, other don’t. It’s a kind of magic in a way. It is necessary to notice what the situation is trying to tell us…. Otherwise we will flounder for the whole of our life… It is not an easy task! To perceive the mirror in somebody else in the right way. To realise our own imperfections, maybe mistakes – on the basis of the behaviour of somebody else…
My pupils often open my eyes. 6 years is a really super age.. At the age of ten, on the other hand, the human ego starts to open and suddenly, problems which didn’t exist earlier start to appear. That’s why children often start to ask why things are not spontaneous anymore. Comparisons begin, ego plays a big role, the mind also becomes more awoken. For some everything becomes easier at this age, another child on the contrary sees the obstacles and pitfalls and retreats quickly. At school, children should learn to train their minds. It is very important…..
One way or the other… Children can describe situations very simply. They describe them with great simplicity, sometimes with humour and in any case, very comprehensibly… They can describe the present moment with such playfulness that sometimes, it is „eye-opening“.. and sometimes it even takes your breath away. Rapid fatigue is dispelled by the breeze of knowledge and “truth” which flickers in the children’s eyes.
Yes, children can accurately say that the moment when they need to focus is very short… when things go badly – it is very long… they understand that the moment of “Truth” – when their little composition plays is very short … no corrections are possible, no return is possible, it is not possible to fix it, unlike let’s say – when we paint a picture. Here, everything is happening very quickly…. No return.. Only if we could play it again.. But it will never be the same – no matter how much we want it to be. It will always be just “different”…
Here, I see a real analogy with life.. nor here can time be returned. How do the words, scenes, situations-… take place? It depends only on us.. In any case, one thing applies – we cannot return to point A. It is only possible to learn a lesson – where not to make mistakes – just like in a composition.. it is possible to learn – by our mistakes – what to practise in order to not make a mistake next time – whether to train technique, or just practise focus and being in the present moment – just like in life…. To be prepared…to be on the alert…to keep the bow bent – but not for some sort of fight, but for preparedness…… for some sort of flexibility. Just like exercise – when we, for a change, train our body.. to know how to fall and get up quickly – without bruises…. Like in a dance. With ease.. on tiptoe….. and later without pain..
But theories will not help us anyway – because later the same situations repeat over and again and if we don’t react correctly right away – it takes a while again. Like on stage – at a concert.. Theories won’t help you much there either. Haha, you might know the scales and all the rules, but simply the moment of “truth” comes and you have to show the audience your concert piece in the way you learned it. Regardless of the circumstances, the situation. People don’t care that you didn’t get much sleep, that you travelled to play at the concert, that you probably had a small car accident earlier, that you haven’t eaten almost all day and it was raining during the whole journey – you need to put all this aside in your mind if you want to give a “good performance” – because this “chance” will not be repeated. Only a new chance will come, a different one… Just like life……
And what about mistakes? It is possible to remove imperfections immediately – like in a composition…. But sometimes, the bad habits that children learn – can‘t easily be corrected even in a composition. It is same in our life journey. We are often unable to overcome the limitations we have, …. or our “pullbacks” in our set ups which are partly learned and partly acquired….. It is us who sometimes sets our own barriers, limits… We bind ourselves with our ideas about ourselves. Playing roles. Playing victims.
Sometimes, it is most difficult to admit to ourselves – that we don’t know something. This also causes children to cry. But I am afraid that we adults are not much different either… Sometimes it is difficult to surpass ourselves, to change our well established stereotypes, to change the “Matrix” in which we live. Because we all live in our own so-called Matrix. It is our bubble which we can’t escape.. Therefore, it is important – to meet other folks, to perceive small signals, which are reflected in the mirror…..
And finally…. It is only up to us…
So that life won’t fool us….. just like my little pupil perfectly described: “before I came to the composition it was over…“
You know…… let’s wish our life will not end too early while we are still focused on the past….. Because this is how it often is. We are with somebody and we are already thinking about what we will do at home, how much work we have, what we have to do… simply…. we are missing the present……….
So let us hope that the composition will not finish too quickly…… so that you can enjoy it on the “stage of life”….
I wish you all “vigilant attention” …. and a lot of joy (=:
Alien girl Kity…