Jane Doe, Alive and Well

It took us forever to decide about the pianos.
Before I took my husband over to see them I prepped him. I didn’t want him to be fooled by their appearances.
It didn’t help.
You should have seen his face light up the first time he saw the gorgeous piano. He knows, admires, and respects wood. I mean, how many people do you know who have read “Chainsaw Lumbermaking”? My point exactly.
He went right over to it.
“Walnut.” He said. “Wow.”
I think he was wolf-whistling in his head. Not to make excuses for him, but he can’t help himself. His dad and granddad are accomplished craftsmen. It’s in his blood

I was prepared for this.

“Look at this.” I pointed out on the ugly piano. “It has its original ivory keys!”
He managed to tear his eyes away for a quick sweep over the ugly piano. You could see the disdain.
“And wooden sharp keys!” I said.
He was not impressed. He’s a wood worker, not a musician.

But even he could notice the difference when Sam sat down and again played for us. There was just no comparing the plain tone with the vibrant resonance of the ugly piano.

This decision generated a lot of discussion in our household.

One valid point was that we’d be looking at the piano all the time, but hearing it only some of the time. So we should get the one that’s pleasant to look at.

Another valid point was that we’d play the piano more and encourage the kids to practice if we enjoyed listening to it, versus just tolerating the sound. So we should get the one that’s pleasant to listen to.

Of course the best scenario would be to find one that was pleasant in sight and sound. But I was three months into this and had not seen anything that I afford in good conscience. These pianos seemed too good to pass up.

This decision with the piano made me think about inner and outer beauty in general. So much of our society is focused on outer beauty. I think of all the industries that profit from our desire to be considered outwardly attractive; skin care, cosmetics, fashion, fitness, books, magazines, and I’m sure there are many others. Not to mention the whole “faux” industries, where the whole point is to be cheap but not look it. They make a killing on our desire to portray a certain outward image.

Maybe it’s just me, but a rude, impatient, lying, ungrateful person is still ugly, even if covered in haute couture and gems. In fact, those traits can make you ugly, even if you have all the natural beauty in the world. Even eau de parfum can’t cover the foul smell of selfishness.

So after weeks of discussion, we bought the piano.

The ugly one – ugly on the outside, that is.

But lovely in all the right ways.