Me and Taylor Swift

Another memorable day with children I just met who felt the deep connection that music and good music teaching evokes. When they play music beyond what they thought they could, led seamlessly step by step in a process that is as musical as the music itself, they are acutely aware that something special just happened. So at the end of two 4^th grade classes, they insisted that I give them my autograph, tearing up pieces of paper and getting in line. 

 

I’m generally not a big fan of the Pop stardom syndrome or any kind of celebrity adoration. It’s often a form of giving away your own particular power and genius to another, both excusing you from owning it and doing the work to cultivate it further and heaping too much on the frail shoulders of human beings who put their pants on one leg at a time but are overinflated to their own detriment and often demise. My whole mission as a teacher is to deflect attention from me to the students, give them the tools to discover and cultivate their gifts. 

 

But seen in another light, that act of asking for an autograph is one way to say that something special happened here that had a little magic and energy to it that made it stand out from business as usual, and thus, worthy of remembrance. The selfie photo or autograph then as a way to capture the moment and hope to remember it. Of course, if this was the first class of a year of teaching these kids (or 45 years!), the glitter and glamour would fade quickly and just become what it should be— a place where day after day the miraculous becomes the norm. And everything brought down to a human scale.

 

I imagine a week or month spent with Taylor Swift would have the same effect. Maybe I’ll call her up and suggest we do team teaching for a while and see what happens. Meanwhile, more to say about today’s Hambone lesson, but I have to plan tomorrow’s workshop. Stay tuned.