Four Reasons To Not Be Afraid of Change

As I played some Wii with my coworkers (and lostkeep myself from knowledge. It's the antithesis of
badly at that tennis game), one of their kids camebeing a scientist.
around the corner. He looked around with large curiousLiving The Character - I had a friend who sang in
eyes, poking at everything. It reminds me of myself asopera last year explain this to me. She said that when
a kid, with everything so new and exciting. Every littleshe is on stage, she literally becomes the character for
thing was a wonder to look at and explore.that particular moment. Her thoughts, actions, and
In many ways, this is how I've always viewed music.speech become completely congruent with the
It's a fabulous thing that soothes the soul and warmscharacter's for that particular moment. In this way, the
your heart. It has the power to motivate you, or driveemotional appeal of the music may penetrate any kind
you into hopelessness. Listening intently to musicof 'analysis barrier' that tries to spot imperfections in
(especially dramatic pieces like musicals or operas) isthe music. After all, music is about telling a story and
like looking at a whole new world through the eyes ofconveying emotions. If that is sufficiently strong, any
a child.kind of logic that you can come up with for why the
I recalled a moment about a year ago when I wassinging is bad is pretty meaningless.
looking at a sheet of music and wondering if I shouldA Greater Appreciation - Knowing more would allow
learn all the intricacies of singing well. As you can seeyou a greater appreciation of the music. While you
from [[Running And Singing]], I can become extremelywould lose the magical feeling that comes with
motivated by music. That is one of its primaryinnocence, you may appreciate the more intricate
attractions for me. I had wondered if learning all the littlecomplexities. For example, you might now give a
details would ruin the experience of an otherwisestanding ovation for a guy who sang a high C well,
inspiring performance.whereas that was just a letter before.
For example, say I don't know the piece of music at all.We Can Temporarily Forget - The technical stuff can
When a person starts singing it, I can admire the piecebe set to one side for a short period of time, still
of music and the story that it tells. However, if I was aallowing you to fully appreciate the music in the state
world class director who has heard most pieces andyou were in before.
knows how to sing extremely well, my experienceIt seems like the middle two explanations are more
would be very different. Instead of admiring the musiccongruent with growth and the process of a child
and the story being told, I may instead compare thelearning to become an adult. Every time we grow, we
performance to the other ones I have heard before.lose a little part of ourselves. The innocence and magic
Instead of hearing an inspiring rendition, I may insteaddisappears. However, we also lose fear and
hear the few errors that 'stand out'. The magic of theuncertainty along with those. In their place, we have
moment may be interrupted by the minuteknowledge, confidence, and other things to capture our
imperfections that I haven't even noticed before.imagination. The more you learn, the more you have to
There's a few arguments on either side of this:learn
Ignorance Is Bliss - Not knowing is better as I'll be ableI guess specific 'magical' things can really only stay
to maintain the magic. I don't know about this routemagical for so long.
though - it seems like being a perpetual child, trying to