Though I’ve gone off social media—how incredibly peaceful—I do keep up with the news, as I believe that is a necessary part of citizenship and belonging to society.
Alas, the news has not been pretty.It’s been downright godawful.
It’s so bad, unbelievable, and terrifying that a rational person might well think: what good is music (or art, or literature, or any other creative endeavor) at a time like this?
Well, let’s dissect this question.
What we have been seeing in the news is (among other things) the manifestation of a certain paradigm—a framework around which things are ordered— that values the following , in no particular order:
— Greed
— Power
— Dominance
— Lies
— Ignorance
— Cruelty
— Indifference to others
— Greed
I could go on, but it’s too depressing.
You will ask: how is “mere” music or art going to save anyone?
And I will answer: because the arts align with a different paradigm, the opposite paradigm, in fact, valuing:
— Generosity
— Gentleness
— Cooperation
— Truth
— Knowledge
— Kindness
— Empathy
The arts express universal truths (those of this second paradigm) through an infinite variety of individually produced iterations. As we know from reading novels, a fictional tale can show us truths. A symphony by Mozart reveals to us the beauty-truth of balance and proportion. A Rembrandt self-portrait gazing at us some 350 years later exposes something true and deep about him as a man and artist, and about us all.
Studying music, we enter into history in such a way that it lives within us—listening to “O Magnum Misterium” by Tomás Luis da Vitória we connect with that world, though it is four centuries past and so much more spiritual than our own times. Listen to African drumming or Argentine tango or Elizabethan lute songs—you will be transported to another time and place. Somehow, the connection between you—you,who perhaps grew up in Southern California with your hair turning green from the swimming pool chemicals—and these far-flung people is much stronger than the distance. The distance collapses.
Or, pick up a pen and try to write a sonnet (ok, ok, a limerick!). Pluck notes on a guitar, and keep on plucking. Push a pencil across paper, leave your mark, enter into the brother/sisterhood of human creators. Gather together and sing, or chant, or recite poetry. Write and put on a play. Leave a mark—but a mark that has no cruelty, dominance, or indifference to others about it.
What the arts give the creator is then passed along to the the audience, the observer, the reader: a personal experience of the healing paradigm of generosity, truth, beauty. Consider, for instance, the immensity of the impact of Bach’s music—the product of one’s man’s life work. Few rival Bach, but on whatever scale, the creator leaves their added mark to posterity.
The paradigm of connection through the arts is the great triumph of humanity, not what we are seeing exposed in the news.
Notably, none of the prominent figures currently wreaking havoc in the world has any relation to the arts. It is hard to even conceive of them enjoying art—because you cannot be aligned with two opposite paradigms simultaneously. To be insensitive to art is to be inhuman. In the long run, that paradigm is suicidal, a death-wish, the product of profound deformity. To quote one of the kindest artists I know (kinder than me, that’s for sure):
“And still, we must feel compassion for these people”.
That, my friends, is the second paradigm in a nutshell.
Life is a string quartet: it only works if everyone listens to each other, adjusts compassionately, comes to a consensus, considers everyone’s contribution as valid, and frequently puts their individual ego aside.
Such a string quartet is a thing of beauty.
A string quartet functioning according to the first paradigm is worse than four tomcats fighting.
Right now, the world is full of screeching tomcats. But we can choose to keep sane, to keep the paradigm of humane dignity alive. Even now.
—Addendum: obviously, art, music, and writing can inspire, warn, or spread a message: African American spirituals , Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” speech, Peyton Scott Russell’s iconic George Floyd mural…Let’s get to work!