http://youtu.be/9fAZIQ-vpdw
Now, this song, as you can see, is in-sane. I have never played anything nearly this hard (the man plays part of this song with his dad-gum forearm, for crying out loud!) and I am no where near Jon's level of expertise. And this is where I will insert my opinion.
Levels, Labels, Limits [insert puking here]
Let me take you back six years: I'm nine years old and my inner musical flower is just budding. I have just begun playing the violin at a local music co-op and now I'm starting piano lessons.
I loved Miss Wychopen, my piano teacher, and to this day I still remember the clicking sound of her long finger nails tapping the black and white keys as she played. But despite my teacher's wonderful skills and wisdom, I. hated. piano. with. a. passion. It's true. I'd argue with my mom about it on a daily basis. I didn't like practicing, I never felt good at it, and stumbling through songs and scales during my lessons was embarrassing (though, that was my own fault). Then when I was ten, something amazing happened.
Miss Wychopen started discovering new things and taking her life to the next level -- unfortunately she was no longer able to teach piano lessons.
About the same time, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I made a mess of mom's old sheet music, finding things I wanted to learn to play, and then started learning them. Because I wanted to.
Instead of frantically trying to find a new teacher for me, my mom sat back and watched me grow. I didn't know it at the time, but a life-long opinion of mine was beginning to form inside of me. The opinion that I like to call (...as of five minutes ago), "Levels, Labels, Limits."
Definitions
Levels - Though there is an appropriate time and place for these things, I feel they are taken too seriously and applied to everything way too often. Levels are stepping stones. They are the stairs in which we climb to reach the top, where we want to be. But why climb the stairs when you can fly? (I'll get into that in a minute.)
Labels - A tag we put on someone or something. Example: "She's a blonde." "He's a jock." "That kid's a nerd."
Limits - When one believes or is told they can only go so far in something.
Levels. This is where Jon Schmidt comes in.
If I were still in piano lessons I would believe that playing something like All of Me, or Clare de Lune, would take training; working up to that level. Pssssh. The hardest thing I can currently play is a Hymn in the LDS Hymn Book which is waaaaay easier than anything Schmidt has written. Do I give a cow? Heck no. I'll give All of Me a go. Yes, I will have to work extra hard, it will be hard for me to learn, but I can do it. Anyone can do it. It doesn't take 6 years of "training" to be able to learn a Mozart song, or anything in any area of life for that matter. You can learn/do anything you want. Today.
Labels. Label someone in front of me and I will personally throw a hammer at yo' face. Juuuuust a warning.
Perfect example of labeling: Two boys in my ward, out of no where, decided they want to start singing together. Two weeks ago they came into the room my friends and I were in, sat at the piano and began rehearsing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (BEST. HYMN. EVER. One of them, anyway). I thought they sounded beautiful! But I looked at my friends and their faces looked like they were tied in a knot; I could tell they were holding back laughter.
The two boys rehearse every Wednesday and some Thursdays after seminary. Tonight, when they began to sing, one of the leaders -- the LEADERS -- started laughing and chanting, "No! No!" and then proceeds to whisper that they can't sing.
Label: They can't sing.
Can you not just shut up and let people live their dreams? Accomplish the things they want to accomplish? When that leader did that I had a hard time refraining from chewing her out. Let them sing. Their vocal chords bring a much more peaceful spirit than yours do when you discourage people from fulfilling their talents, thanks to your freaking labels.
Limits.I feel like when you're born, society gives you a box to live in for the rest of your life. "This is your box, only accomplish and believe in what you can do within your box. The box will bring you great disappointment at times, because life in the box is hard. When you think you almost have something you desire, you won't get it, because as it turns out, that thing was outside of your box. Do not leave your box." That was a bit of a tangent, but make sense?
*Julia hands you a box cutter.*
Sky's the limit, right?
False.
There are footprints on the moon.
Reach for the stars, live your dreams, spread your wings...
...and if you fall...
...Get back up again. With God, all things are possible. I firmly believe that.
I guess all I have to say is,
Oh, and happy belated valentine's day. :)
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