Creativity

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I just got back from the cinema, following a showing of one of the most exciting and inspiring films I've seen in years. It's a documentary entitled "Man on Wire," which follows the story of Philippe Petit, the high wire walker, and the series of events leading up to his epic walk across a high wire strung between the Twin Towers in 1974. Seeing Petit on screen now and in extensive footage form the 70's, I was struck by his single-minded focus on achieving extraordinary feats (he warmed up for the New York exploit with similar walks between the towers of Notre-Dame in Paris and the Sydney Harbour Bridge), his concentration, his incredible confidence and, most of all, the beauty of his artistry.

These qualities reminded me of a wonderful interview I read yesterday in the current edition of "American Music Teacher" magazine with the performance psychology consultant, Bill Moore.

I am delighted to announce that my latest article on intuitive improvisation has been published in the December/January issue of American Music Teacher, along with a number of other great articles on improvisation. I chose to focus on games and exercises for teachers who may not have ever improvised themselves. I give practical approaches that will enable them to not only encourage their students to improvise, but to also enjoy the process alongside them. I based it on successful experiments with many of my own students over the years. It was a fun article to write.

I apologize for not having blogged in a while -- I am in charge of a pilot program in Kodály musicianship for Kindergarden through second grade students, and conducting two middle-school choirs -- teaching three hundred children per week. It has been extremely absorbing and energy-consuming. The program is going well, and we hope, with the help of the Ojai Music Festival Education Committee, to expand the Kodály program to all schools in the local district.

Young children are wonderfully responsive and enthusiastic. It has been amazing to see how rapidly they are progressing. I am excited at the prospect of so many young children receiving a solid foundation in musicianship and enjoying music making so much. My intention in the coming semester is to regain more balance in my life, so that I can once again have time to blog, make music, write articles, and actually have a social life as well!

I'm reading a wonderful book at the moment, which is really giving me pause for thought. "One Small Step Can Change Your Life" by Dr. Robert Maurer puts forward the idea, based on the ancient Japanese principle of kaizen, that we can achieve much more by taking tiny incremental steps than by waking up one morning and deciding to make huge changes. Maurer explains that when we decide to make a huge change in our life we often become afraid, which can trigger the "fight or flight" response in the amygdala, and then this slows down or even stops rational or creative thinking.

It's been a long time since I added a blog entry- the main reason is that I'm experiencing a lot of inflammation in my arms which makes it hard to type (recurrence of an old condition). We're also on the edge of an enormous fire in the Sespe wilderness (see my husband's blog for details). All in all, it's been a very challenging year so far.
So I was delighted to see a fabulous video clip
this morning which I think you will enjoy. It certainly made me smile!

I heard a fascinating feature on National Public Radio this afternoon about the discovery of some jewelry made from shells, which dates back some 90,000 years. This led to a discussion on what is apparently known as "The Creative Explosion"- the period when humans first began to produce art in abundance. This art has mainly been discovered in Europe, and dates back around 40,000 years. No-one is sure what caused this "creative explosion"- a time of immense creative fertility which occurred simultaneously in many locations.

One hypothesis is that this may have something to do with the weather being colder than in Africa, where the first human remains- dating back 100,000 years- were found. It had never occurred to me that cultures from colder climates might produce more art than those in warm climates. According to the report, Eskimo art is a prime example of this. To read more about Cro-Magnon man and the creative explosion, click here.

I've decided do further research in this fascinating area- so watch this space!

This evening I experienced a different aspect of what it means to be free to create. My husband and I have recently decided to put one evening a week aside for creative pursuits- whether individual or joint- and tonight was the night. I always look forward to these evenings, as I feel I have permission to be creative in a way which feels different to other times of the week. However, tonight I found myself experiencing a certain amount of anxiety and tension at the idea of spending time in this way. As I have previously mentioned, we recently experienced a bereavement, and I found myself envisaging doing some kind of cathartic piece of art- this felt simultaneously as if it would be satisfying and it also felt heavy inside of me, as if it were some kind of obligation.