Following Our Artistic Muse

I had a jam-packed, but inspiring, day today which included a business coaching, a collaboration check-in, a faculty task force meeting, applied lessons, and a board meeting. Despite the wide range of these activities I’m often surprised to find through-lines as I shift contexts throughout days like these.

Today’s invisible line surrounded the idea of our artistic muse. My brilliant theory colleague today said (paraphrasing) he has struggled in the past to bring new inspirations to the forefront of his teaching when he viewed his teaching as music theory. However, he recently flipped the equation to be that he teaches logic, equity, and critical thinking (for example) through the medium of music theory. I could not agree with this statement more. As a mentor, teaching percussionists stroke types or rudiments can quickly lead to burnout after decades of this material.

Later today, I attended the Day 3 of 5 of Jennifer Rosenfeld’s business coaching webinar. She had this great line that stuck with me in her discussion:

How do we bring our artistic selves into our business and make space for that, using it as a source of teaching and inspiration for the people that we are serving?

When I heard that I had to check myself to make sure I wasn’t still in the last meeting! I’ve had some success even this semester working with students in real time on topics that are ever-changing and relevant. It’s one of the reasons I’ve moved away from strict curricular structures. I’ve found that some of the best exchanges with students have come from spontaneous learning, often surrounding inspiration from current events, trends, or exposure. Furthermore, I strive to play my instruments as often as possible, because nothing keeps me energized, inspired, and able to relate to the students like a hard practice session earlier in the day.