Music is powerful, natural, ecological, and can be available to all.
Music is all about relationship. Relationship between pitches (notes), between beats ( rhythm), between the musician and the instrument ( including the vocalist's lungs and the air), between all of this and the listener, whose brain identifies patterns that evoke emotions and move bodies, and between the vibrations and matter that come together to make sound.
A system of symbiotic ( living -with) and sympoietic (making-with) relationships, music is ecological, a microbiome within nested ecosystems. When we play music together or solo, we play relationships - that primal stuff that makes life possible.
Yet, for any relationship to flourish, we can't just play the notes on the page. We need to practice sensitivity in the form of listening, responding ( instead of reacting), using our physical senses to gather information, as well as using our sense of intuition. It is with this practice that we can really improvise and jam together - through a song, and through life!
Living Musically is an invitation for you to consciously practice making music, and practice being in relationship with your psychological self ( deep, diverse elements that make music so meaningful to us), your wider, communal selves ( the ecological beings and narratives that you coshape with), and your musical - relational self (responsive, response-able, sensitive, creative, open, with defined boundaries).
With this practice, we have the opportunity to joyously and cathartically play our favorite songs, as well as improvise and create new songs/stories. - To tune into patterns and connections all around us, relating and dancing with humans and other ecological beings in lively and sincere ways. - And to find a deeper sense of belonging within this beautiful, sensitive, intrawoven, musical planet.
Ecological Psychology is a study and practice of the interwovenness of all life. Aligned with native sciences in this way, Ecopscyhology operates with the understanding that we make one another who, what, and how we are - physically and psychologically. The water I drink becomes me. What I use to wash my body, and how I dispose of my trash, my waste, becomes the water. The energy I bring to the coffeehouse, or to my classroom, or to my family – alters the environment we share together. And, the energy I walk into, can also alter my mental state, and my physical expression.
In order to study this physical and behavioral interconnectedness, we spot patterns in the ecological world, as well as in complex and diverse myths, narratives, and world views. Uncovering these patterns helps us to understand the intricate workings and relationships of our social, psychological, and physical ecosystems.
We find these patterns in the stories we grow up with. What is shared to us from and about our families, what we learn in school, how adults treat us and each other, how our friends treat us and each other, and what we see in movies and magazines (and now, social media) - all of this shapes our behavior, and our ethos – even if we are unaware of that co-creation. In fact, perhaps especially if we are unaware.
Since we ARE ecological, the ecological world provides the processes and principles that also take place in our psychology. This is a gift when seeking to understand our feelings and behaviors.
In practice, we use metaphor and deep questioning to excavate human narratives, spot psychological patterns, attune our senses, and undergo a psychological involution of composting and new growth.
With guidance, this practice and study can lead us to become more grounded in knowing how we are home on Earth; how we are ecological.
In this practice, we become familiar, akin, with other beings, not only humans, but humans too. We become akin with processes, with change.
Ecopsychology is not to be confused with Eco Therapy, yet they are connected .To practice ecopsychology, it does help to get out and explore different environments, different creatures. This not only diversifies our lives in an experiential way, but also allows us to recognize our psychological ecosystems in deeper metaphorical ways. For instance, I grew up by the Hudson River, and live by one of its tributaries now. Perhaps this is partially why I have an affinity and feel sensitive towards them, I can study their behavior, and learn about my behavior. If I am flooded, I need warmth, the heat of the sun. If I am stuck, I can move my body, dance, invigorate a flow again. Or even clean a bit of my house - undoing an out of date dam.
Yet, even when it comes to those environments and creatures we can't be in or next to, we can learn about them to understand how our behavior is related. The more we know about a different ecological being or process, the more our own lives and psychology make sense.
Once we understand more about how our physical and psychological world works, we can imagine with intention.
Imagination is pivotal in general, but also emphasized in ecopsychology, in regards to narrative change. Our imagination tells or reveals a story, and guides our behavior, actions, and energy. If given attention, our wildest dreams can also help us understand where our ethos and our intuition lie. With appreciation for the wisdom of imagination, we can work towards imagining new stories into being. Stories of expression, universal prosperity, and love.
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