Wow, it's been a long time since our last microvacation.* The 2 3/4-minute video of a young girl playing piano despite missing fingers on her right hand illustrates an important idea about limits and Healthy Survivorship.
To live as fully as possible within the constraints of illness or injury, Healthy Survivors are willing to test their limits. But they also don't try to perform beyond limits.
In this video, the girl is swaying while she plays, clearly moved by her music. The audience appreciates the girl's efforts, clapping periodically. Some attendees wipe away tears while listening.
Yes, she is playing the piano. But the music for her right hand part is mostly one short pattern of single notes, over and over. Now if she somehow managed to play chords with her right hand or complex melodies, that would be a different matter. Trying to play a Rachmaninoff piano concerto would most assuredly be an exercise in futility, causing pianist and audience distress.
This is not to diminish the accomplishment. Quite the contrary: Her performance supports an important idea for Healthy Survivors:
Patients often assume they can't do something well within reach and, thus, deny themselves potential sources of pleasure. Healthy Survivors understand that even if you can't do something as fast, smooth, easily or beautifully as if you did not live with your medical challenge, the effort can still bring great pleasure.
What a great reminder for us to do things we think we are not capable of. Thanks for this microvacation.
Jan
Posted by: Jan Hasak | July 18, 2011 at 02:30 PM