Listening to Life with a Tin Ear
Excerpt from “Why Knot?” Buy the book at Amazon
I used to envy people born with perfect pitch. Unlike me, they could appreciate music to its fullest. I couldn’t tell if a piano was out of tune, nor distinguish great from mediocre performances. But now I’ve reached an age when instead of regretting my limitations, I relish them.
Perfect pitch is a curse, a tin ear a blessing. To someone with perfect pitch, anything less than a perfect performance is painful to hear. He or she can appreciate subtleties beyond my ken, but probably can’t enjoy what passes for music for the rest of us.
I can appreciate a flawed performance on a piano that’s out of tune. I can enjoy sing-alongs and amateur singing and karaoke and informal musical events. I can delight in whistling while I walk. My opportunities for musical pleasure are far greater because of my tin ears.
Similarly, I can savor ideas that aren’t fully developed. I can enjoy a story, a book, a movie that is good but not great. I have everyday, non-professional expectations.
I’d rather explore many subjects than devote myself to one narrow field and never arrive at complete knowledge of that field. The world is far too complex to understand in detail.
I know I can never get definitive answers to the big questions, nor can anyone. Instead, I want to arrive at personal answers that make sense on the scale of where and when I live, despite my awareness of the vastness of infinity and eternity. I need lenses that help me look at the world with a perspective of immediacy, from the context of daily life.
Let’s enjoy what we can know. Let’s enjoy life as best we can, glorying in the imperfection of our tin ears.
