Trill/Thrill

I was in awe when I came across the Devil’s Trill Sonata — instantly captivated by the story behind it. Some of the greatest creations in the world are rooted in real life experiences. I learned that during a dark period in Tartini's life, he was locked away in a monastery for at least three years. In those years of isolation, he devoted himself to the study of the violin.

Life has a way of bending and moulding your imagination into wider horizons. A triumph of the imagination usually bears scars — but I don’t see a problem in that.

My subconscious is often unchained and feverish. There are nights I wake from dreams in a sweat, heart racing. I wonder: what kind of talent must I possess to deserve this pain? Or is it simply a by-product of being stung by someone's mockery — the echo of being told I have none? It must be one or the other.

Solidly accepting the vulnerability of feelings will bring you peace. I am not beaten but often confused by pain. The idea of suffering is an attraction in itself (to me)— because it’s a reminder or a prelude to something emerging from somewhere deep. To transform the pain (and fear) by injecting more variation into life. Tartini's refuge in the monastery turned out to be a marvellous Sonata. If you wish to live a life so differently, then you must accept change and mockery — they act as catalysts to revive the atrophied curiosity about life.

Apart from being swept away by an Italian piece and my own dreams, I ground myself with my work in finance. Being well-versed in corporate language and adept at reading financial statements is great — but it's still a limited tool to deploy of looking at the world. I want more.

When one day I find myself smiling at the misconduct of an executive — or viewing an attempt at tax evasion as a Byronic act of some futile conquest — that, perhaps, is what they mean when they say: “When you're older, you're actually younger.”