Staying Grounded

Visiting the piano for the first time this new year felt like checking in on an old friend after a long absence. It had only about a month that I had last been on campus, but it felt like ages. After the tragedy that shook our campus and community in December, the piano offered a welcome and grounding space in which to think about how to move forward, even the the face of unthinkable loss. Sheltered by the trees overhead and warmed by the winter sun, Ruby Erickson (Ph.D. candidate in Musicology & Ethnomusicology) and I observed the changes and consistencies of the piano since we had last come. The peeling of laminated wood. The intermittent keys and hammers that still made contact with strings. The marks of an animal that had been gnawing at the pedal supports underneath.

Understanding how this piano can prompt reflections on death, impermanence, and renewal is the topic of an ongoing research project that I am currently working on with a psychology professor and her team based at Bishop's University and the Université Laval in Montreal, Canada. Though we had completed the research for this before December 13th, the conversations that this piano sparks feel all the more important now. As the Brown community supports each other and moves forward through this coming year, the piano will continue to be here for anyone who wanders through, as a grounding place of quiet and reflection.

Days in place: 1064

Weather: partly sunny, 50°F