Dabbler

Sometimes I see/hear/find things that make my breath catch and my heart beat a little bit faster. Like this:

A cellist named Steven Sharp Nelson took Bach's Prelude No. 1 (a classic cello solo piece) and rewrote it in 8 parts, giving it a bit of modern twist with some percussion, and basically just made it even more awesome. I love that piece, I've played the cello since 3rd grade (though I haven't busted it out much these last few years) and it always makes me giddy happy when I play it. Hearing it like this is wonderful. There are a number of other wonderful videos on ThePianoGuys youtube channel, as well, such as a piano and cello cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and an orchestral cover of OneRepublic's "Secrets". They are fantastic and wonderful and I'm in love.

Sometimes I wonder where my life would have gone if I had focused on the cello instead of school. I remember at some point in my past making a choice between them, though my teacher had insisted that I could've played the cello professionally if I practiced it more, if I had wanted it more. I'm a bit of a dabbler, I feel like I could have gone on to be a musician, a poet, an english teacher... I have and had so many interests, so many loves. I chose science because I was good at it and it seemed to make more sense, it seemed more secure, but sometimes I wonder if I would've been happier doing something more artistic. Like maybe designing knitwear full-time or dying yarn? Sigh.

It's hard to know what's better: being a master of a particular craft, or being a dabbler in many but master of none. Some days I think being a master is preferable because then you could do amazing things like Steven Sharp Nelson and bring people so much joy. And other days I think being a dabbler is better because as such I know just enough about many different things to be able to really appreciate them. Who knows, right?