Paying Attention to the Space Between Life's Notes

When learning a new composition, beginning violin, guitar, and piano students focus on which fingers go where and in what order. Later, once the basic techniques are mastered, the teacher introduces the concept of making the notes sound like music by playing them to a certain tempo or time. In essence, tempo and time are concerned with the space between the notes, the duration during which there is either a mere harmonic echo of the note just played, or total silence. Of course, there is anticipation, too, as the listener's brain leaps to the next note automatically or, if he or she doesn't know what that note will be, experiences a delicious period of pure expectation that is sometimes rewarded with something unexpected and sublime.

In common woodworking or even the making of fine furniture, the adage "measure twice, cut once" applies. There is, nonetheless, an experience of contemplation between each phase of the project. After each component is formed, there is a subconscious consideration of how well its manufacture was accomplished, and of how well it will dovetail with the next piece in the production line. There is also an ongoing evaluation -- at least when a master craftsman's hands are involved -- of the overall balance and line of the piece, and whether it will be satisfactory in the end. More than one woodworking project has been scrapped as a result of the mental process that takes place between stages of physical work.

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