A Sentient Trombone

Imagine, if you will, a sentient trombone.

A trombone is an instrument with a distinct sound. It can play slow music, it can play fast music. It can play somber songs, it can play joyful songs. It plays the notes it's given. The notes it's given to play are meant for a trombone, because a trombone isn't a tuba. It isn't a piano, and it isn't a violin.

No matter how hard the trombone tries to play the notes meant for other instruments, it won't sound like another instrument. It's fundamentally a trombone, even if it's dented beyond all recognition or if it's so rusty that the slide is stuck.

However, unlike a regular trombone that needs a musician, a sentient trombone can act on its own accord. The sentient trombone is, by definition, conscious and self-aware. It understands its place in the orchestra, knows its current abilities and limitations, as well as its future potential. Given sheet music, it can play the notes it's given as they're given: in the right pitch, in the right tempo, and ideally with an understanding of why the music was written.

Striking an appropriate balance between its own agency and just following the cues of the conductor is the true skill of the sentient trombone. This comes when the trombone recognizes that the sheet music comes not from itself and not from the conductor, but rather a completely separate individual: the composer. By understanding the intentions of the composer, the trombone can improvise when necessary but adhere to the spirit of the composer's vision.

In our search for meaning, we need to put in the effort to hone our craft, to follow the conductor's cues, and sound good in the way that only we can sound. This gives us subjective meaning. At the same time, we need to see the bigger picture, understand what the whole orchestra is doing, and what emotions the composer wanted the music to evoke, which gives us objective meaning.

This is our practice: to recognize that we're just an instrument in a grand orchestra that plays on the cosmic level, and to do our part in making the music sound good.