From Victim to Victor

In the dictionary a victim is a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency.

A victor is a person who has overcome or defeated an adversary or conqueror.

It is extraordinary that changing the last two letters can change the meaning so completely! The last two letters of victim could represent “I am” which denotes a belief, an acceptance that a statement is true about oneself and the last two letters of victor “or” is used to link alternatives. It is remarkable to note that these “alternatives” are the first step to changing a belief!

I am constantly looking for alternatives. I am constantly asking questions.                          My big two were:                                                                                                                             1-What am I attempting to accomplish?                                                                                    2-Why MUST it be accomplished?                                                                                                 I then decided that a little word change for the first question was all that was needed and it became:    What am I going to accomplish?

To answer that question is key!

I have answered that question and will be sharing my answer over the next few weeks

Stay tuned!

Every Child is An Artist.

The full quote is:

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up?” Pablo Picasso

That’s a good question! Creativity is something that I believe cannot be taught, but it can be nurtured! Moreover, there are many ways to be creative in many facets of our society, not just in the Arts!

I would say that Steve Jobs is creative. Richard Branson is creative. Marketing guru Dan Kennedy is creative. Martha Stewart is creative. However, I would suggest that each of these men and women are from a generation that included Arts Education throughout their school years!

Even though none of the aforementioned folks strap on a guitar, grab a paintbrush, pick up a script, or put on tap shoes, part of why they are where they are is because of their school’s music and arts programs.

Here are 15 reasons why the arts are so important:

1. They are languages that all people speak –that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.
2. They are symbol systems as important as letters and numbers.
3. They integrate mind, body, and spirit.
4. They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.
5. They offer the avenue to “flow states” and peak experiences.
6. They create a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application– leading to “deep understanding.”
7. They make it possible to experience processes from beginning to end.
8. They develop both independence and collaboration.
9. They provide immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection.
10. They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.
11. They merge the learning of process and content.
12. They improve academic achievement– enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.
13. They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and “problem-finding.”
14. They are essential components of any alternative assessment program.
15. They provide the means for every student to learn.

Isn’t it worth advocating Arts Programs in every school?

Couldn’t we, as independent business people, artists, CEO’s and Entrepreneurs “create” a way to partner with schools, develop their students, and create a better future?

I’ve got some ideas!           How about you?

Looking For Transparency in an Opaque World

Being of the mindset that our attention should be to the giving rather than receiving, I went to my mailbox yesterday and found 4 small packages from 4 different charities. One included money and a gift, and the other 3 gifts and no money. Since launching Music and Arts USA I have been thinking of a variety of ways to increase awareness, get donors to reach in their pockets, and utilize creative marketing concepts.
I am wondering if like me, when you receive a “gift” from a charity do you immediately calculate how much
a) the gift cost
b) price to ship
c) ROI
d) how much is left for the actual work of the charity

With the constant media bombardment of a “bad economy” do you think that these “gifts” actually create an obstacle in the mind of the donor and if so, what would you do differently?

P.S 178 All Stars Video by 144 Music and Arts Teaching Artist Richard Boulger – MySpace Video

This is one of my best Teaching Artists working with a brand new band all with donated instruments

This is exactly what it is all about!

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself

What beautiful words! I remember as a kid going to band class and playing the clarinet. A couple of times a week our class would be paraded done to the auditorium and like magic, the music would begin! A couple of years later, my sister took me to see The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night” and  the clarinet was history, I needed drums. Roughly 8 months later, we lived in an apartment, the drums were history! I started to play the electric bass and as they say, the rest is history!                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I lived my dream. Concerts, records, jingles. All these  things and more…

Now, 10 years after owning and running my own business 144 Music and Arts I am not only performing again but enjoying it immensely!

What’s the point of this? Well, I can remember back to age 3 how important music was to me. I lived for it. I would spend my allowance on 45 RPM records and listen over and over again to both sides!

It is this passion that has driven me to form Music and Arts USA a Non Profit grassroots organization dedicated to donating instruments and teaching artists to schools without music programs.

In these tough economic times, schools are slashing their music and arts budgets. It is critical that we, the private sector establish new measures to prevent, especially in low income neighborhoods, losing the means to deliver a child’s dream. I know firsthand how transformative music can be.

This is exactly the Stage I want to be on!

BTW, I have also set up a Facebook Cause Page entitled

Help us put musical instruments into the hands of every student!
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/358712?m=40c37195

Ambivalence and Arts Education

The dictionary describes ambivalence as having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something. If we look at why schools, when looking at their budgets, cut Arts Education first, it is because of ambivalence.
Most of the people making these decisions grew up in an age when the arts were a part of their school curriculum. Where they are today is a direct result of their exposure to music, visual arts, dance, and drama.
How is it that these same people feel that the Arts are not a necessary component of a well rounded life?
It has to do with ambivalence.
They know that listening to music and playing music has a positive effect on a students cognitive brain development
They know that students who play musical instruments in school are better listeners and are more cooperative.
They know that numerous studies show, that listening to and playing music can improve nonmusical skills such as literacy, verbal memory, mathematics, & IQ.
Yet, for some curious reason, it takes a back seat to reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.

Once again, private industry needs to take the lead to make certain children have their full compliment of programs.

For the last 10 years my company, 144 Music and Arts, has been going into NYC Public Schools teaching music, visual arts, dance and drama. We have been in over 200 schools and have seen the impact arts education has on students, their teachers, and the entire building population. We have also seen situations where the school has so little money that they cannot afford both an arts program and the necessary materials, instruments, etc.

With this in mind, I have founded Music and Arts, USA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to bring musical instruments and programs into needy schools. It is a passion that I cannot deny! I believe in acting fast so I decided to launch this effort before my website was up and running. The website will be fully operational in 2 weeks.  In the meantime I have launched a page on Facebook Help us put musical instruments into the hands of every student This page allows you to make a donation with a click your mouse. At the beginning of the school year, it is more apparent than ever that we need to do this for our children.

In The Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity

Albert Einstein wrote, “Out of clutter, find simplicity, from discord, find harmony, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

When we look at an obstacle, sometimes we become paralyzed by fear, sometimes we see only one possible answer, and sometimes we throw the baby out with the bath water.

When I started 144 Music and Arts I learned a technique from the schools called “backward mapping.” This approach has you visualize the best possible outcome and then you work backwards to find all of the steps you need to take, to get the desired result you are looking for.

Ultimately, your stress level goes down and miracle of miracles, you may find an opportunity in one of your steps that will create an offshoot to what you are doing that may prove to be a better way to go.