As of the 28th of this month I will have had a ringing in my left ear for 33 years. I, too, am {or was} a musician. for a few years I gave it up. Too painful. Then, I learned to 'hear' in a different way. In my fifties, when I finally bought a piano again, I wept, for Joy not sadness or frustration. What a beautiful story you've told here. I hear you.