Harmonizing Passions

As we know, a shared experience is greater than one experienced alone, and doing things for others raises one’s mood. It is a truism because it is true. Let’s collaborate on our passions! Let’s Harmo-Pash.

My mornings now begin with the piano of the contemporary composer Kapustin. This is because I was moved by the blind pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii playing Kapustin’s 8 Concert Etudes, OP.40 with all his might at his concerts.

Mr. Tsujii wiped the keys several times. It was such a fast song. And yet, for the encore, he played four more songs. The three notes of “E flat” at the start of the last piece caused the audience to gasp. It was the superb ”La Campanella”. The audience’s cheers further encouraged him to play and he finished Campanella with lightning speed. Mr. Tsujii was all smiles. He seems to like to make people happy. He is blind, so he uses his body to produce sound, without regard to the expression on his face when he plays the piano. He creates sounds that ask us questions.

I hope the “Bravo” ban will be lifted soon. Did Mr. Tsujii, who is blind, receive our standing ovation for his applause? It was a cinematic end roll! Someone mumbled near the exit: “It kind of raised my body temperature”. So did it to mine. It was like after a rock concert.

Last week I suddenly became my niece’s tutor.
I said, “Why don’t you decide on a subject to focus on?” When I said this, my niece said, “I think I’ll focus on science,” and I sent a LINE, “I’m glad you’ve decided.
And after a while, I got a LINE from her, “I decided to study English, after all!” From that day on, she bought a workbook she wanted to work on, and when she started working on it, she was into English. She had not been very devoted to her studies so far, so she was trying to rewind and even went through the units she was doing at school. I was also affected by the fact that people change.

So, if my niece requests it, I make time to teach. My niece sets a study timer on the app and puts her iPhone away. She then posts her study time on the app. She says it’s very encouraging to see other people’s study time. It’s more convenient than real friends.

We spent four hours in the food court on a weekday evening studying English and math. I thought it would be smoother if I also reviewed junior high school English and math, so I watched videos on YouTube on how to master junior high school English and math. They are easier to understand than school teachers because they teach with their whole hearts and soul. By teaching them all together, they become organized and tidy in my brain files. It’s fun to have the memories come back to me. I can already do prime factorization and simultaneous equations.

And as an English learner, I also learned something new and eye-opening. The benefits of reviewing my own English to teach it to others are amazing. And not only for my niece but for me as well, something has flipped a switch. It’s just beautiful to see people putting their whole hearts and soul into what they do for themselves and others.