Skip to main content

Guh-Guh-Goat

Zoe loves her new set of alphabet books (thanks, neighbors!), the format of which is very simple.


We opened the U book and the first picture was a unicorn. Zoe knows nothing of unicorns, but she was confident. "Goat!"

"What is that picture, Sweetie?"

"Goat!"

"What is that letter?" I was pointing to the big U, which is in fact a letter Zoe knows. She can pick it out of the refrigerator magnets and alphabet blocks, and label it easily.

"Goat!"

"But, Zoe, what is the letter here?"

"Guh-guh-guh-Goat", she said, looking at me as though I was an idiot. Little girl knows the drill, all right.

But in this two-year-old cuteness I read the completely normal human response of ignoring the facts that don't coincide with the "truth" we hold in our heads. I see it everywhere - in our politics, in our religions, in our day-to-day interactions. And if my brilliant daughter isn't immune I can't possibly be, so I wonder what it is I'm missing.

The older I get, the more I try to keep an open mind, and to see all sides of an issue (or reed-scrape, or oboe brand, or turn of phrase). What belief do I still cling to against evidence to the contrary? What obvious truth is my mind closed to? Where is the big U suggesting that I rethink my Goat?

I am opening my mind. I want to know what I don't know.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blog has MOVED

 Have you been waiting ... and waiting ... and WAITING for a new Prone Oboe post?  Don't wait here anymore!  The blog has moved to https://jennetingle.com/prone-oboe/  and will not be updated here on Blogger anymore.  Please come and check me out there!  I love you all - stay safe out there!  Jennet
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do You WISH You Could Describe Your Reeds?

In Reed Club last Monday, we took a moment before we started scraping to set some intentions.  We each said one word - an adjective to describe what we WANTED our reeds to be.  An aspirational adjective. Efficient was a word that came up, and Consistent . Dark and Mysterious . Mellow . Predictable .  Trustworthy .  Honest .  BIGGER . Reed affirmations actually felt helpful - both in the moment and in the results we found as we worked.  I don't know why that surprises me - I set intentions at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month, at the beginning of a run, in the morning before I work.  I love a good affirmation.  I love WORDS.  But I'd sort of forgotten about the possibility of applying one to the mundane work of reed-making.   You don't have to know exactly how to GET to that result.  But having clarity in your mind about what that result is?  Helps you to stop going down unhelpful rabbit holes...
2 comments
Read more

Don't Wait For It

 Don’t wait for it. The lowest notes on the oboe are notoriously difficult to play. They don’t want to speak, they MIGHT splatter, they are SLOW to respond, they feel flat. And if your instrument is even slightly out of adjustment, they can be even more resistant - sometimes literally impossible. And some students WAIT for that low note to come before they go on, and THIS disrupts the rhythm, the tempo, the flow of the piece, and the musical line they are trying to create.  It distracts the listeners, it throws the ensemble off.  The pianist has to lurch to catch them, the conductor has to stop and yell.   One missed note, or one note that doesn’t quite speak - THAT doesn’t ruin your communication. But the distraction and disruption for both you and your listener that happens when YOU acknowledge the problem, when YOU make us all wait patiently for the response of a low C - that’s when you lose us. I think every low note has three possibilities within it. 1. It ...
Post a Comment
Read more