Dearest First name / friend,
We've been reflecting together on everything that's happening right now in our tumultuous world. There's a great deal of devastation, with so many fighting for their lives. It's impossible not to absorb the pain of those suffering, the inhumanity of it all, the hate. Everything we have, our basic well-being, our peace and even our ability to rest, is such a privilege. We've repeatedly asked ourselves, "how can we rest at a time like this?", "how do we go about posting normally?", "how do we email our community as usual?", or just… go about our lives when we're feeling so helpless at the horrific nature of it all?
We've been silent so far, but know that there's a lot that happens in silence. As musicians, especially, the silences are powerful. The silence before a piece begins, the silences of "rests" during the music, the silence afterwards. These silences prepare you to speak, they give more power to what is said, and they give space to reflect.
Now after a couple weeks of gathering our thoughts, we have some to share. These are a few ideas that have been helpful to us, and hopefully for you as a way to process and direct your energy:
1. Care for yourself. Poet-warrior Audre Lorde said, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde
Remember: rest helps us do the rest. The more rested we are, the more we can focus on the work at hand, whether that's doing our jobs, taking care of our families/community, or show up for those who are in need. Think of your mental rest, physical rest, emotional and creative (or sensory) rest. What areas of your life do you neglect rest?
2. Be inspired by the strength of the Ukrainian people. Here are four examples that we are re-sharing from our coach Marie Forleo:
*
SNL’s cold open featured the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York singing “Prayer for Ukraine.”
* The Ukraine Library Association
published a message when they had to cancel an upcoming conference that basically says “We will reschedule just as soon as we have finished vanquishing our invaders.”
4. Silence is okay. It doesn't mean you're giving into fear, and it doesn't mean you're apathetic. Think about the silent spaces, whether it's in the music or in your daily life. How can they build your voice? Ixi here, with greetings from the beautiful city of Barcelona! I just visited the Miro Museum here, and something the artist said grabbed my attention: "Look for the noise hidden in silence, the movement in immobility, life in inanimate things, the infinite in the finite, forms in a void, and myself in anonymity". In one way or another everything contains its opposite.
As for the emails and posts, well, we believe it's important to keep building our community in all of Music360's programs.
As one Thriver put it: "I’m just glad to know I have a group of like minded peeps . I’ve been needing to tune out a lot of media because I’m checking it obsessively and worrying about all of the unrest. Just keep thriving. Thanks for all the 💕".
Another said, "I’m appreciating the cello practice tips. In times like these, remembering the 🤗 community of people of good will is essential."
