My life dances on four tiny strings. My heart is channeled through my fingers onto them, creating a beautiful kind of music that still gives me chills from head to toe.

I found that quote as the description I wrote for my Pinterest board, \\ play violin //, that I created a number of years ago.

I must make a correction from my standpoint in 2016 -- my life used to dance on four tiny strings. Despite the fact that my life no longer revolves around playing the violin, my passion for the instrument does not, and will not waver.

I have been playing the violin since I was just four years old. As a homeschooled elementary and middle schooler, I really didn't have friends to play with or anything to do but school, chores and playtime -- so violin was a huge part of my life.

It was very important to my parents as well -- I am thankful that they pushed me so hard to learn one of the hardest instruments in the world to master. I worked and practiced hard at learning the violin -- sometimes begrudgingly and with tears in my eyes, but I still worked hard.

I have a problem with seeing things through. More often than not, I leave things unfinished in my life, and it is something that I dislike. I don't feel this way about violin. Granted, I had a plethora of wonderful people behind me rooting for me and helping me the whole way, but ultimately it was my hard work that grew into knowledge and expertise. I actually saw it through.

See though, the fact is -- I dedicated my entire childhood to music and learning the violin. You would think that I would have wanted to work even harder and make music for the rest of my life. You would think that I would have wanted to play orchestra in college. You would think (as many people hoped I would) that I would have majored in Music. You would think that something I worked so hard to master would be a part of the rest of my life.

And it will be. Just not in the way most people thought when I was growing up. Violin, despite all that work, is a hobby. But more than just being a hobby, it is an ability that is a commemoration to hard work and being committed to something I love to do. It is something that will always tell me that I CAN do it, even when things get hard.

I don't want to make money off of the violin, other than passing the passion on to dutiful students through a few lessons here and there. I love the violin. It's a part of my soul and being. And I am so glad for all those who are seeking careers in the musical field. Bravo. It's simply not for me. I have spent my childhood achieving one thing, and now it is time for me to focus on something else and master something else. Change is a good thing!

But you see, despite this, I will never stop playing. The thing about playing the violin, or any other instrument really, is that if you love what you're doing, you will play with all your heart, body and soul. That is real music.

When you can feel the passion, the heart and the love, you know you are a true musician and always will be -- even if you are moving on to discover new and different passions.