Letting the arts heal our wounds
Welcome to the ArtsBound Newsletter. Every Tuesday, I share three thoughts or insights meant to help performing arts students and young professionals flourish in their life and career. Today we’re looking at the concept of “healing our wounds” from a few different angles: 1) the profession of sound; 2) wounding and healing as a part of answering your calling; and 3) healing ourselves after the pandemic.
- 3.5-minute read -
(NOTE: I started ArtsBound because I believe the world would be a better place with more people living their true calling. If you know a student or young professional who is searching for their niche in the performing arts world, consider forwarding this email to them. If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up to receive my newsletter every Tuesday. It's free.)
1. Interview with a sound healer.
I just posted a fresh episode of the ArtsBound Podcast in which I interview Gerald Savage, full-time music educator at Pittsburgh CAPA (Pittsburgh’s arts magnet school) and sound therapist.
Gerald sits on the board for Pittsburgh Youth Chorus, the organization I help to run. When I first started the job, we met for coffee to get to know one another and share our respective visions for the future of PYC. We talked about our backgrounds as teachers and our common interest in music composition and ethnomusicology.
Then Gerald began telling me about his work as a sound healer. In that moment, I saw something shift in Gerald’s eyes and the energy of our conversation seemed to level-up. In reflecting on the experience, I believe that the value of healing sits deep at his core. If you are someone who believes that all humans are different manifestations of the Divine, then you may understand when I say I saw a bit of God through Gerald’s eyes in that moment.
Science continues to explore how vibration can affect our bodies at a cellular level. Sound therapy is a practice that addresses an individual’s unpleasant symptoms by harnessing the power of sound to bring balance back to the mind and body.
In our talk, Gerald talks about the concepts behind his practice, shares examples of how he’s been able to help others, and discusses how his life journey led him to this work.
Listen to my interview with Gerald Savage.
2. Wounding and healing in the context of calling.
Most of us know that humans build muscle only by causing tiny bits of damage to the muscle tissue itself. These micro-tears are just large enough for the muscle to require healing (and in being healed, it also builds mass) without being so large to cause a more substantial injury.
Human intelligence and cognitive performance is much the same. There is a “sweet spot” of stress that encourages us to grow and achieve without pushing us beyond our limits.
In a similar way, living our true calling often comes through a process of experiencing stressors. The stressors could be positive (having an innate sense of healthy competition) or negative (resisting the pull of our inner voice and suffering as a result). Any stressor, when experienced at an optimal level, is a chance to grow. In the case of resisting our calling, we often have a lesson to learn that will become more and more obvious the longer we resist.
The key is being present to the experience of stress and taking an active role in the learning/healing/growing process that follows. As this process is repeated, we continue to put a finer point on the intuitive compass that points us in the direction of our calling.
3. The arts as a healer after COVID-19.
COVID-19 has caused a staggering number of deaths, hospitalizations, and long-term illness, and my heart is with those who have suffered as a result.
Our society is also experiencing significant wounding on a collective level. Systems and institutions - regardless of whether or not they were healthy or just - are failing and/or being broken down. Human relationships are being hampered by social distancing, and we have seen an increase in anxiety and mistrust.
We can have hope, though, that healing will follow… and that the arts will play a central role in that healing.
With gatherings so limited, performers are among those whose lives have been profoundly impacted, and we are wondering when we will be able to get back to doing what we love. We may not know when, but we will surely gather again to dance with one another, sing in choirs, hear bands play in bars, and watch plays.
Performing artists are presented with a wonderful opportunity to imagine what our gatherings may look like when we return to them. And through the intentional design of our future experiences in the arts, we have the chance to impact the future of our families and communities. I feel confident in the goodness of that future, and I look forward to gathering with my loved ones and neighbors soon in the spirit of our mutual and collective healing.
See you next week!
Lee
PS - I started ArtsBound because I believe the world would be a better place with more people living their true calling. If you know a student or young professional who is searching for their niche in the performing arts world, consider forwarding this email to them. If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up to receive my newsletter every Tuesday. It's free.