One of my favorite parts about teaching piano was helping my students understand what all the symbols on the page mean in ways they can feel and imagine. Bringing life and meaning to the music as they learned brought so much joy to my soul.
The crescendo—that feeling of excitement deep inside you that starts small. You can barely hear it but you know it’s there. Then it begins to grow bigger and louder, little by little as if you’re turning the dial on the radio one click at a time until it’s so big and loud that you’re exclaiming your joy to the world at the top of your lungs with a megaphone!
Sometimes crescendos happen slowly. They’re drawn out and the changes in volume are spread far apart. Sometimes they build quickly, the blast of volume hits us like a flash of lightning.
Then there’s the decrescendo. The reverse of the crescendo, where we must come back down from it all. Again, this can be rapid or gradual.
Composers and musicians use crescendos and decrescendos to help them express the story and feelings within the notes on the page. There are many other symbols they use too. Lately, though, I’ve been experiencing mountains of life’s crescendos and decrescendos, so these have been on my mind—moments that have knocked me off my feet and moments that have made me wait with a mix of anxiety and excitement.
As I’ve reflected on my most recent struggle and applied it to this music metaphor, I’ve realized some interesting new things about myself. As an Aries, crescendos are my motivation. They ignite my passion, ready my engines and inspire me for whatever is to come. I also struggle with patience so if the crescendo is too gradual the wait induces stress. Thus, the crescendo can be both a gift and a challenge.
I thrive off excitement and activity so the decrescendos are challenging for me. I get bored during the in between times. The waiting period for the next crescendo to hit is difficult. I find it hard to rest, even though I know I should. The times when I have been able to find silence and relief and take the time to allow my body to rest has been absolutely incredible and life-giving. Here again, showing how decrescendos can be both a challenge and a gift.
I think I have some work to do.
Life naturally gives us highs and lows, twists and turns, beauty and pain. The struggle we all face is learning how to dance with it. Acknowledge what’s in front of us. Accept the invitation to respond thoughtfully to what life has to offer, both the highs and lows, with grace. Although this sounds lovely, I know it’s a daily practice, one I’m clearly still working on.
I live in Utah and have the luxury of an incredible landscape. We just had five straight days of rain so when I came out this morning, there were some gorgeous cloud formations over the mountains. I stopped to stare, taking in their natural highs and lows, the cracks and crevices, the valleys and trails and all the spaces between the clouds and thought…
What if I could be better at being okay with all the things that happen between the crescendos and decrescendos? All the music that is played in-between those symbols is just as important and incredible too, isn’t it? I listen to the entire song, don’t I? Why wouldn’t I be just as enthusiastic and willing to be engaged through those parts of my life? I wonder what I’ve been missing out on by worrying during those times?
Who in your life do you admire for being comfortable with life’s quieter moments?
Who do you know that acknowledges life’s highs and lows with grace and acceptance?
What is something that these individuals do that you might try this week to cultivate your unique gifts and challenges?
