When Natalie and I started this blog about five months ago, one of the questions we asked was what we, as composers, are doing to make the world a better place. I've been thinking indirectly about this question a lot lately, as I ponder (with so far, not many results) what I'm going to do next in terms of my career. I tend to be a bit dramatic with this whole, "what should I do with my life" question, but I do feel strongly that whatever I end up doing, I'd like to at least try to somehow make the world a better place, even if it's in a really small way.
As a demographic, do composers make the world a better place? And if so, what do we do? Individually, I hope many (if not all) composers do things to make the world better in some facet of their lives. But are these things, whatever they are, accomplished through composing? I'm sure some of us volunteer at animal shelters or soup kitchens, donate our time to Habitat for Humanity, mentor at-risk youth, or merely spend time with our families and friends, which (almost) always makes the world better. But those activities, while extremely important, don't have much to do with our careers as composers. What can we do through composing that makes the world better? Should we even be worrying about this? (Answer: Absolutely, I think we should worry about it, but that's just my opinion.)
I know that not all careers intrinsically exist to better the world, but I hope that most people feel that their careers are worthwhile and help in some way. Recently we had some comments on this blog that touched on the topic of whether or not composing is a selfish pursuit- and on some levels, to some extent, I think it is. I know that every time I say that to my friends and loyal supporters, they are quick to protest and rise to my defense- that music making is extremely important in bettering the world, that it feeds people emotionally, that without music life wouldn't be worth living. And on most days, I agree. I wouldn't be much of a composer or new music advocate if I didn't. But if I'm completely honest, the tiny annoying voice inside my head likes to play devil's advocate a lot more often than it should. It says things like, maybe you should have stuck with science, and then you could have helped cure cancer! I like to think that on some level, making music is just as important as curing cancer- what would our lives be like without music?- but it's a hard sell when I think of all the people I've known who have died from cancer and how the world would probably be a better place if they were still here.
A few weeks ago, I went to a lecture by one of my favorite New York Times columnists, Nicholas D. Kristof (it's not as cool if you don't use his full name). I was enthralled by his pictures and stories of adventure around the globe, telling us about all the great things he'd accomplished and horrible humanitarian situations he'd shed light on, all the people he'd helped both directly and indirectly through reporting on their lives and bringing their situations into the living rooms and breakfast tables of the western world (or wherever it is that people read the NYT). And as I left, totally inspired to do something awesome, I wondered how I could do this awesome thing, whatever it might be, as a composer. Now, I know that it's not realistic or even necessary to try to encompass all the things I want/need to do into composing, but wouldn't it be nice? And such a time saver too, if I could make money while composing while making the world a better place, instead of needing three separate activities to accomplish all those things.
So, again, what can we do as composers? Over the next few weeks, Natalie and I are going to have a debate/friendly discussion in an attempt to come up with some answers to this question. Stay tuned!
Posted by Sarah
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