#debreif

(If anyone is interested in song writing, here’s a little crash course! https://takelessons.com/blog/how-to-write-a-song-z02)  

“Take what you need not as you please

hard to see children grow up in need

Let’s keep in mind the things we share

like water and food--handle with care-”

Singing and song writing was entirely new for me and out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we were heading into the music lab, but boy was that fun! They always tell you that in university you will not always remember what you learned in class, but the moments that are fun and unique. I will definitely remember making a song and singing it, quite the memory!

When we first started just spitting out random ideas and sentences, I felt kind of awkward and I wasn’t sure where it was going. After a while I was very impressed with the way James would sort through our jumbled “mess” of words and sentences and form lyrics. From here, I felt excited to see where our song was going to take us and what it would eventually sound like. I think a lot of other students had the same first impression as I did and after a while we were all enjoying ourselves. I learned from this lab that sometimes it’s ok to try completely new experiences and you shouldn’t be afraid to take on new challenges. Crossing my boundaries created a very worthwhile experience! I will definitely use a similar activity if I ever teach a younger audience to get them out of their comfort zones. I was surprised with how “catchy” and unique our song turned out. I love that years from now down the road, I can share a song I made about nature, what a worthwhile experience to be part of!

The first gift that is relevant to this lab is the gift of joy. People do not truly experience joy without having their “bodies and minds stretched to [their] limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (Beck and Cable 2011) In this lab, I believe that even though a lot of us felt uncomfortable at the beginning we overcame the difficult task and had so much fun creating a song together!

(We found joy through a worthwhile experience, https://freedomhillcommunitychurch.org/joy/)

 The second gift is the gift of story. I think this gift is important to give the audience something to hold onto. As it states in the textbook, the power of story allows the “listener to find personal value and carry it with them” (beck and Cable 2011). Through our song we were able to construct a meaningful story about climate change and reducing the amount of plastic we use. People will find it easier to remember a song with a message rather than just facts.

(We told a story through song, https://writingcooperative.com/telling-a-story-vs-storytelling-2c7a52377e95)

 The last gift I think this lab connected with is the gift of hope. We gave our listeners a chance of hope that the world is not doomed yet, and if we all work together to reduce plastic and not become “sasquatches”, we can fix this! This is the gift that could have been developed and expanded more. The length of the lab didn’t allow us to come up with a full song, but I think with more lyrics we could provide our audience with more connections and to give them more hope that the world can turn around. Also if we started doing more things we talked about in our song with the community, people could maybe see this more realistically and feel more hopeful and even help out at plastic clean up events, etc.

(All you need is a little hope, https://careerwise.ceric.ca/2019/05/17/the-flexibility-of-hope-in-career-development/#.Xc9hPS3Myu4)

I’ll leave you with a few lines from our song that I will be humming to for a while longer and I hope you will be too!

Don’t be a sasquatch

Not on my watch!

be mindful of your footprint

Live with good intent

Live with good intent

Question: Did anyone else enjoy the music lab? Why or why not? What did you take with you from it?

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