In the past week we have heard that we are getting a student from Queen Margaret Music Therapy Degree Course on placement. We have had a student before, and it is something that I particularly enjoy. Having the opportunity to help someone as they begin their career and to provide an environment where individual learning can take place is just so good.
I remember the days that I spent as a student and the ways in which I have learned. I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned has been discovering Carl Rogers’ understanding of empathy. He said, “empathy is the ability to enter the world of another without losing touch with your own”. It means using your own emotional experiences to understand the experiences of others. There is one thing learning a theory about living and it’s another thing learning how to live out that theory. It has taken me a lifetime to understand all that this means, and I still have so much to learn. With every different person I meet at Forget Me Notes I have new things to learn because while we share similar emotions, our responses to life are different. The challenge we face whether as a student or an experienced practitioner, is that each person will need to be listened to for themselves, then heard, and then responded to uniquely. What a challenge!
I really enjoyed Together in Song this week at the Festival Theatre. We shared the session with some of the cast of War Horse which is the show that is showing now. We sang songs that reflected the era when the play is set and listened to stories from the cast of how they had got into theatre and where the show has been on its travels around the UK. We also heard from one of the puppeteers how in the horse they make their own sound effects. The cast member did two of the sounds made by the horse, it was amazing.
On Thursday we experienced a day that will live in our hearts for a long, long time. Events like the one that happened in Manchester are a challenge to Forget Me Notes as we aim to build community. They are also a challenge to us living in empathy with others.
On Friday afternoon in our efforts to build community we used a song that is so inclusive. We sang the song “What the world needs now is love sweet love, no not just for some but for everyone”. How ever you identify or whatever you believe as a human being, this song encompasses and finds a place for us all. There has never been a better time to embrace a song like this than now.
As we face our own challenges around the events of Thursday wouldn’t it be great if this song became an anthem that enables us to build a world with more compassion and understanding.
Hope you have an inspiring week this week.