“Her life was a cacophony of nonsense…”

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She sat down at the little electric piano but played nothing. There was an old musician’s cliché, about how there were no wrong notes on a piano. But her life was a cacophony of nonsense. A piece that could have gone in wonderful directions, but now went nowhere at all.

This quote is taken from The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, when Nora Seed begins to wonder if her life is even worth living. When she was younger, she had a really bright future ahead of her. She was a promising swimmer, a good musician, and interested in philosophy. She had many opportunities to truly turn her life around for the better, but failed at every one of those, causing her to feel regretful and disappointed with herself. 

Nora seems to have an identity crisis, if I were to use a term from psych. She doesn't know what she wants to do and is afraid to follow her dreams and commit herself to a singular occupation for life. So, she backs out of swimming because of the pressure there, she backs out of her band because she doesn't think she can do it, and she also backs out of philosophy. 

The piano represents her passions in life and the things that give her life meaning. But she doesn't play the piano, showing that the joy she found in her passions has also died out, and that she struggles to find meaning in her life. Her life is "a cacophony of nonsense" shows that all her "notes" in life are jumbled: she jumps from one thing to another, never fully pursuing and sticking to a single passion. Other people might find what they want to do immediately, creating an intricate and developed piece, but not her.

I found this to be extremely eye-opening, considering that I'm a senior in high school about to make the big decision on what I want to do with my life. Currently, I’m still torn between a couple of options, but this excerpt from The Midnight Library shows the importance of trusting that you can make the right choice and forging on. Sometimes, jumping headfirst into the unknown is a scary, albeit necessary stepping stone in life.

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