You Know How When You Start Thinking About Something...

...and then you see it EVERYWHERE??

That's happening to me in my developing thoughts about culture and how we use elements of culture in music therapy. All of a sudden, I'm finding situations where I could see others reacting or responding to music or comments or information given. I am having to spend some time sorting through these feelings and the expanded vision, and I haven't even really been all that deep in the topic...yet.

This happens quite often. I hear a song that I like, and all of a sudden, it is everywhere - in the Dollar Tree store when I go shopping, on the radio, my clients ask for it over and over again, it is incidental music. You name it. It becomes pervasive. This type of thing is happening to me right now.

I have always been interested in culture, especially how it influences musical performance and engagement. I try to be culturally aware - I try not to be someone who tries to take cultural aspects as my own, but I also see a great benefit in adopting different cultural practices and making a new cultural experience developed by the people directly involved. I like the idea of the American melting pot, and I want to be in a community that celebrates our cultural differences while sharing them with those who are interested in learning more.

At this point in my evolution, I am stuck on a very literal definition of cultural appropriation. I usually start at this place - first going with the strict structure of an idea and then finding the ways that it branches out into my own interpretation. My thoughts usually are different than the first literal definition - I have to make up my mind and I then develop my own opinions about how to express myself about certain topics. It is always an interesting process, and one that I journal about, doodle through, and keep a record of in various ways. I find the process very informing, and, while I am looking towards a product (in this case, a conceptual framework for music therapy), I am also open to changing that end product as I continue to evolve.

I think the ability to change my mind and my opinions about things is a good one. I find it perfectly fine when someone makes a statement and then changes their mind about that first statement. I want to know what led them to change their mind, but I think that the ability to look at a situation, find information, synthesize the facts and opinions, and then come to another possibility is a good one. It means that people aren't stagnating in old facts and figures, but that people are always learning, growing, and changing.

(I do, however, want to know what information was learned that led folks to change their minds - that interests me more than the change of stance!)

I will be spending time putting chapter tabs into my Feminist Perspectives in Music Therapy book, edited by Susan Hadley today. That is the first step for me - some organization. I will also do a little bit of reading. I will also find my copies of the AMTA and CBMT documents to see what they have to say about culture and respect for others and anything else that will fit into my current thought process. I will hunt up my books on cultural literacy and update my understanding of that concept while within the focus of my current concept. It is time to start figuring out what I don't know - ooh, that will take up an entire notebook, I am SURE!!