If you’ve never loved classical music before, give Ben Zander twenty-one minutes to change your heart. If you’ve loved it already, share this with someone who could use a little healing. Ben conducts the Boston Philharmonic and speaks about his transformative experience with Landmark Education–a beautiful combination. This is Benjamin Zander’s TED talk.
Benjamin Zander at TED: Music with Shining Eyes
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Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011
Image YouTube screenshot
Listening to Krista Tippetts’ interview with musician Bobby McFerrin, it first surprised me that he ever considered joining a monastic order, and that the main attraction was the silence! He also loved the scheduled cycles of each day, the listening for God. Then it made sense.
He describes himself as a “conveyer of song. I think of myself as a catcher of songs . . . . to grab it, and pull it down, and have it come out of my mouth.” He distinguishes this process from an attitude of performing, which he recommends avoiding, even if you’re “catching song” from a stage.
He’s known for his improvisational freedom, but did you know he practices it? He recommends setting a timer for ten minutes. Then open your mouth and sing, and don’t stop, even when your body screams to stop.
That works for writing, too. Set a timer for a little longer than usual, and keep going even when everything in you screams to stop. You can work up to longer sessions and greater improvisational freedom.
(I watched the unedited version, and I plan to listen to the edited version as well–not to miss the things that will be trimmed for radio length, but for the music they’ll add. There’s another great way to look at revision!)
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Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011. All Rights Reserved.
One of my alma maters is known for the strictest of honor ©odes. To matriculate, we signed our allegiance to academic integrity and high standards of personal ©onduct. From time to time, these standards have been publicly ridiculed. But can you imagine a world where we could ®ely on them? Imagine a world where the return of a lost wallet would be ©ommonplace instead of ®efreshing.
©onsider intellectual property rights. Given the ©urrent technological access to almost any human ©eation, we’re told the best we can do is to engage services that attempt to catch and pull down the piracy almost as fast as it happens. See for example this discussion in The ©hronicle of Higher Education about this problem for university presses, which ironically lag behind in both access and protection.
Folks, there’s only one protection, and it is us. We’re on the honor system now.
For only fifty years, those who have raised their ©hildren with a strong sense of ®ight and wrong have been ridiculed. We’ve been told you can do what you want if it isn’t really harming anyone. Find your own north star.
Well, the earth’s northern axis is still ©ircling Polaris. The golden ®ule still applies, and every ©ulture on earth has its ©herished version of it. The same ©onscience develops in every heart where basic human decency and ©aring parenting have nurtured it.
Let’s quit excusing “little white” ©opyright violations along with every other honor code violation. The ®oyalties you save may be your own; the integrity you gain may be even more valuable.
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Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011. All Rights Reserved. Your conscience is watching.
