Saturday, June 20, 2009

The Parable of the Piano

I got my piano tuned yesterday, for the first time since I've had it! I don't know when it was tuned before that, but it's been a while, I'm guessing. There was one key that hadn't worked since I can remember, and the sustaining pedal hadn't worked in a few years either. The piano tuner guy came, and was trying to fix the key, and guess what he pulled out- a penny! It had been under the key for a really long time, he said it was even jammed into the wood from people trying to get the key to work. After he left I was playing the piano, and it was so beautiful! I was instantly a 25% better pianist! It was so easy to get everything fixed, and took less than two hours. I wondered why I had put off doing it before!

This made me think of a bit by Brian Reagan, a comedian I love. He talks about going to the eye doctor after not having been there for seven years. He puts his new glasses on and is amazed at how well he sees. "How can 'instantly improve vision' not be at the top of the to do list? Egh, I'll see tomorrow, I've got a sock drawer I need to clean out."

I think of how many times I do this. There is something in my life that isn't quite right, but it's good enough, I'm getting by, so I let it sit. And then once I fix it, I am surprised at not only how easy it was, but how much of an improvement it made. How great would it be to get all of those things fixed quickly, and not have to spend more energy on them?

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