Thunderstruck
A NARRATIVE ESSAY
We generally have a wide variety of options when it comes to expressing emotions either to ourselves or to other people. For us it usually comes automatically when it’s time to generate a physical or mental state reflecting our inner feelings. There exists a list with a number of different emotions that an average person is liable to experience in his or her lifetime which creates small changes in that person either for that moment, that afternoon, or that day. Yet it is when a person’s emotions are irrational and illogical that greater paths in life are discovered.
Born to be a one of the world’s most prominent violinists, I was polishing the cream-colored horse tail bow with a piece of dark brown rosin (a type of hardened tree sap to polish string instrument bows) before I could barely walk. I can still recall the distinct bittersweet smell of the chalky melted oak sap that went back and forth along the silky strings leaving a trail of white dust and tucking snugly into the wooden joints at both ends. Then, I observed the bow glide elegantly across the strings of my soon to be Stradivarius, as smoothly as a boat on a lake, while I tightened the tuners for each string. The whole process of getting my instrument out, setting it up and finally playing it was just like an ancient ceremony one had to follow with great precision to achieve fine results. Back then, in the bright and glorious days of childhood, I performed this ceremony twice a day for many hours at a time to the great content of my caregivers.
When I’ve stepped foot onto another continent on my 8th birthday, I continued to proceed with my practice according to the same schedule, though guided by a much less-talented teacher in comparison to the one I’ve become well acquainted with in the past. Yet, I continued to awe my guardians and my peers with works from such distinguished composers as the well celebrated Johannes Brahms, the illustrious Shostakovich...