Obsession

At thirteen, young Pablo found a battered copy of Bach’s six suites for solo cello. And I say found, but really he rediscovered Bach’s lost manuscript. Another thirteen years went by, practising those six pieces every day, before he played them in public. Over the years, with relentless practice, he became the greatest cellist of all time. But Pablo kept practising. In his nineties someone asked him why he still played day after day, when he had already become the great Pablo Casals, the best cellist in history. He replied that he was only just beginning to notice some improvement.

Obsession. It means siege: surrounding a place and letting no one in or out. An idea takes over the mind, and blinds it, clouds the understanding. Obsession becomes the only way to live. The life force.