Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Some reasons I teach and make music.

...the inherent and unique ability of music to bring order to consciousness for those who engage in ‘musicing.’ Just as writing helps bring clarity and order to my thinking...music also helps clarify my thoughts and feelings which cannot be expressed with words.
...music provides opportunities to experience “flow” (motivation which occurs when exciting challenges are perfectly balanced to match and extend ability) which spurs self-growth and self-knowledge.
...the distinctive power of music to “refine and extend” our ability to feel. By intensifying our felt experiences, music allows us to deepen our connections with the world around us, to broaden our capacity to love, and ultimately to strengthen and enrich our humanity.

I think these ideas capture a small (and somewhat cloudy) glimpse of the true masterpiece (the 'big picture') of the way that we were created to create...like our Creator so generously intended.

2 comments:

Liz Thomson said...

Heehee! Yes! Thank you, David Elliot, and Cziksentmihalyi (sp?)! Miss you, Ang!

Ang said...

yup. A current ethnomusicology project led me to pull out the big "philosophy" paper...it made me feel warm and happy and inspired.

Love you Liz!