I practiced piano five to eight hours a day. I was preparing for music college. After I graduated from high school.
It was a hot July day. The windows were open. I was playing the piano. Just as I had been for the past few weeks and months. I paused. Looked out the open windows at the garden and the trees. The birds were screaming. My friends would be in the pool now. They would be having a lot of fun together. And I was sitting here. Alone.
I looked at the keys of my piano. And the thought came to me, “Only what I put into this thing comes out. And that’s one of the loneliest things there is in this world.” I stood up. And after those thoughts, I never played the piano the same way again.
I went into science.
Loneliness has many faces. In science. In work. In life. I made my decision then of my own free will. Now I’m making music again. For you. For the world. With lots of melodies in my head – and just as many topics and concerns.
Simon Bieley