This lovely story really spoke to me when I ran across it. I haven’t found a better metaphor for Pluto/Venus transits (and believe me, with transiting Pluto opposing my natal Venus, I’ve been looking for them) – transits that often make us feel that too much has been taken from us. Perhaps, in light of today’s Venus/Pluto conjunction, it will speak to you too.
Violinist Itzhak Perlman was crippled by polio in childhood and walks with the aid of braces on his legs and a pair of crutches. At a concert on the night of November 18, 1995, at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, one of the strings of his violin suddenly snapped during the performance. Stunned, the audience held their collective breath, expecting Perlman to stop and leave the stage. Instead he paused, then continued playing – adjusting, creating, compensating as he went along, and when he put down his bow at the end of the concert, a mighty roar of applause filled the hall. When it had died down, he spoke to the audience: “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”
Excerpted from Gardening for a Lifetime. Copyright 2010 by Sydney Eddison.
