There are essays that I read from time to time that I wish I had written.
The article excerpts below come from a recent piece posted on April 2nd by the brilliant writer, Steven Barnes, on his blog Dar Kush.
This essay should probably resonate with many artists around the world, regardless of discipline.
The writer (not Barnes) makes several points that I connect with on a deep emotional level (although I do not share his cultural bias); for example:
“The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us.”
While I agree with the intention of this statement, archeological evidence actually supports the fact that the first people to understand this were African, and that the next people to understand this were Asian. The Greeks came to this understanding much later. Instead of quibbling over this minor point, I refer to Robert Farris Thompson’s documentation.
What I truly appreciated however, was the statement:
“....I have come to understand that music is not part of "arts and entertainment" as the newspaper section would have us believe. It's not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we cannot with our minds.”
Preach on brother! This statement gives me victory!
I suggest you do read Steven’s blog (regularly) and read the entire entry.
It will give you victory!
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