"Only connect"

In preparation for the upcoming Valentines Day, I would like to share my thoughts on a relating topic, hoping maybe this will help us be in the right mood for it :)

On stage, we musicians are exposed. Whether you are performing or having your piece performed. On stage, we are naked.
So in music, we make ourselves vulnerable. We take our chances and take risks, just so we can share - our knowledge, passion, dedication, and emotion.

A lot of times we put everything we've got on the line, physically and mentally. We risk the chance of losing them all - everything that we have accumulated until that point. The result is always unpredictable. We never know, and we are never in control.

Like telling someone how you really feel.

But no matter what the result is - whether we achieve a completely unexpected victory, or we fall flat on our faces and go back to square one, having lost them all - we always come out at the other end, stronger. Through those shared experiences, we can only gain.

To share is to connect. To share is to be honest. And to take chances.
And so to speak the truth, to sing, and to dance, we are vulnerable. And that's why it's always tender and beautiful.

"Only connect" is a phrase that constantly reappears in my favorite book (E.M. Forster's "A Passage to India"). It talks about who we really are, regardless of the differences between classes, races, cultures, and religion.

I think in a way, we humans are always looking for a way to connect. And artists devote their lives to it.

So it's important to remember that when one is trying to communicate or express the truest self, he/she is making himself/herself vulnerable, and taking great risks. And so there is beauty everywhere. And knowing that, I think, makes us kinder and stronger.

I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day!