Guitar heart

August 27, 2009 in R(e)asonate by Jacques Bornman

written by Jacques Bornman

Jacques BornmanI’m a keen musician. No, wait maybe musician is too strong a word. I’m a keen impersonator of a musician. Anyway, it was at the piano, in a dance of black and white keys, that the thought came to me: The heart is a guitar. An instrument of beauty, inspiration and most of all love. Each with its own tone, each responding differently to touch and feel, with the capacity to make soul-music — taking us to places words alone cannot reach.

Music cannot be manufactured. It takes time and discipline. Yes, standard progressions, useful techniques and agreed-upon time signatures all exist. But you cannot prescribe one formula to create and fit all music. The mystery and the attraction of music is that two pieces of music in exactly the same key can sound worlds apart when played in different styles and with different instruments. We often falter here in trying to help others. In an effort to ‘manufacture’ and guarantee growth and life, we reduce it to ‘three easy steps’ and ‘how-to’.

In our hurried and busy lives we run through one activity, idea and emotion to the next. We keep on taking on and picking up more, until our hands are so full that we put down our guitars. Always with the best intentions to pick it up again — someday when it all will somehow be slower and we have discovered how to make more time. We mute our hearts with the safety, security and comfort found in our predictable routines. And so we unlearn the art of making music. We betray our hearts and follow what the all-powerful ‘they’ say makes for good music. We pattern our lives on the rules and rhythm dictated as the standard — a literal deadbeat.

Think about your guitar for awhile. Do you know where it is? Abandoned under a bed? Dusty and neglected, some strings missing? How would you describe the sound as your fingers move across the fingerboard? How do you feel listening to the sound?

Do you still know how to listen and how to play? Do you believe that it’s true that you can live out beautiful music? Do you know your heart, and how to live by it? How you engage your heart, determine your life.

Often our hearts get stirred awake from its slumber without any warning. Our hearts resonate with certain words, sounds, smell and images found in books, notes, nature and conversation. I become aware of it in bookshops. Maybe it’s the smell of freshly bound books. Rows of words, soldiers in line. From a distance it may appear neat and safe — but with the potential to strike with metaphor, truth and beauty. Walking in the presence of books, I remember again that I too have a voice.

What stirs the string of your guitar? What do you do with it? Do you embrace it, accepting all the notes as your own? Does self-doubt make you put down the guitar and go on with life as you know it?

The Master Musician first created with sound — a word. From it a song of love, forgiveness, compassion, peace, acceptance, joy and life emerged. It invites us to join in. To bring our broken music unashamedly, trusting the Master to improvise and harmonize it to work. With the love of a mother, we are patiently and expectantly cheered on as we gain confidence. The yearning of our heart is to make music in harmony with others. One instrument alone cannot carry the music. We sing with U2: “We get to carry each other.” We can make music in such a way that it draws others in — in creating a loving space where all contribute and get a chance to shine. May we learn to listen to the Music. May we learn to listen to our hearts again, and learn to play again. May we learn to make music together!

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