what we have in common

As part of my current class, we are studying the use of imagination and creativity in leadership. A theme of our virtual immersion that I really connected with was that of music, and how the presence and appreciation of music in our lives can be a channel of creativity that can be used as a tool for more effective, adaptive leadership. I have found myself continuing to pull on this particular thread over the last several weeks-the importance of music in my life; the random and life-shaping memories certain music brings back; how I look forward to live shows and singing along again after things open up post-pandemic.

Keeping with this theme, we had the opportunity to visit the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix as part of our spring break trip last month-special thanks to our friends for the fantastic recommendation! The museum was sprawling and the sheer quantity of one-of-a-kind instruments on display was overwhelming. There is a whole floor divided out into displays representing nearly every country in the world-musical instruments, art, period clothing and other influential artifacts. One display in particular really caught my attention-that of Paraguay and its “Recycled Orchestra”, which was featured in the film “Landfill Harmonic”. The picture I have posted with this entry is of the Recycled Orchestra in 2011.

I am still processing all of the themes in the movie, because there are many. Something I keep going back to, however, is a message from that was consistent throughout the movie, my museum experience, my learnings of how to apply music to my creative and adaptive leadership practices, and my memories going back as far as I can remember about music-that “…music and instruments also show us what we have in common…music is the language of the soul” (from the MIM website). During these times in our world, we all need to be finding the things that remind us of what we have in common and focus on those, instead of focusing on those things that divide us.