On pianos and the art of writing

It took four guys to put this on a pickup truck. It wasn’t easy!

I recently purchased a used piano on Facebook Marketplace.

I grew up playing piano but always had a keyboard at home — never the real thing.

It’s been great so far. But I didn’t expect the biggest benefit.

Sure, it’s great for enjoyment, relaxation, and an opportunity to appreciate music.

But I find myself taking writing breaks on the piano.

I sit on the stool and play whenever I’m stuck or need to refresh.

And I keep playing.

I play the keys until my fingers give up.

Sometimes it’s a song, or sometimes I just jam and improvise something on my own.

Then, creativity kicks in as the oxygen pumps in my brain.

When I’m finished, I’m anew again, like a dry turtle that soaks in the lake after sunbathing.

I wrote once about jacuzzis and how important it was for me to relax and make big decisions.

And, I guess sitting here now, I can say the piano also relaxes me. But instead of transformation from emotions to an intellectual resolution like a hot tub gives me, this is different.

It switches it around.

I stop thinking in my head, and I start feeling.

I let the emotions take me. And when I’m done, I can “bleed” again, as Hemingway once said.

I can write.