Your fingers gently curl onto the strings as

your bow gracefully glides over them,

playing the notes to a familiar melody,

the notes to one of your favorite pieces,

one you’ve played many times before.

Your eyes light up like a thousand stars at dusk

and your lips curl into a slight smile as you play.

You try to focus on playing the music perfectly

but you slowly drift off into another world,

appreciating the beauty of the music, YOUR music.

You have tiny battle scars on your fingertips from playing.

They are reminders of pain but also beauty.

They are signs of how long you’ve been playing,

how much you’ve learned, how much you’ve improved,

and all of the hours you spent practicing

so that you could play that sequence of notes flawlessly.