Not many of us heard about Izumi Tateno. But he happens to be one of the top Japanese pianists, with more than 3000 concerts and a hundred recordings behind him.
In 2002, while performing onstage in Finland, his right hand began to shake. He finished the piece with his left hand and collapsed.
He had suffered a stroke. A stroke that left the right side of his body paralysed. In his own words, "In an instant, I lost all the music that I had accumulated inside me for over 60 years".
But he did not give up. No. In fact he is back on stage giving dozens of concerts, though he has not gained control of his right hand. He plays music especially composed for the left hand, sitting on a bench that stretches the length of the piano.
"...I am not interested in taking it easy. I don't even know how to. I want to perform as I have done in the past 50 years..." , he says.
And then in a performance last year, he had an urge to play a simple melody with his right hand. He tried it, and it worked. His wife sat in the audience with tears in her eyes.
He wrote that whenever he plays with his right hand, he gets the feeling of new leaves coming out in spring. "They are still delicate, but maybe in time, they will grow strong."
All our new initiatives are like new spring leaves too. They are delicate and need a lot of care. But as Izumi Tateno says, maybe they will grow stronger with time.
Let us all nurture more new leaves in our work. For what else is spring, if not new leaves?
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