Silky Carter old post, Block 4,5,6
Accountability and Fear
This concept of accountability reminds me of responsibility. Not responsibility or accountability as in taking out the garbage but accountability as in being in total awareness of your mind, body, and actions. Similar to a concept Dr. Jordan describes about body mapping and conducting. A conductor must be aware of everything that he or she is doing and attempting to produce, because it affects the way the choir sings. It is an interesting yet almost mystifying concept but it checks out quite relevantly when you analyze your actions. For example if a person was to conduct a choir and give a down beat and it was too high or un-centered it would cause the singers to take a high breath and raise the larynx, which is not appropriate for healthy/longevity singing. This is a task as with anything that requires your full attention, no matter how difficult. This concept is important because it influences the students who are the singers, the music and the audience, etc. There is a chain reaction inevitably, and I used this analogy to illustrate that the accountability mechanism is far superior then what we imagine it to be.
People forget that everything thing they do has a consequence, it isn’t necessarily a negative result but words or actions performed lead to larger phenomenon’s. In the words of Isaac Newton for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same is true for the intentions of these actions. The energy that you give out is the energy you should expect back. Block says that we need to remove conversations of entitlement and create dialogue about accountability and possibilities. One can take on accountability but essentially it cannot be liability for one’s self, one has to have the ability to care for the well being of the whole.
It has to be for yourself and for the progression of your neighbor(s). When Block speaks of Community he is not speaking of a simple meeting or gathering, but a community in which visions and possibilities are given existence through common thought and understanding through conscientiousness.
Block believes that people should be welcome without needing an invitation. We should be able to feast together as brothers without the tangible evidence of having known each other for years. Block believes that fear is what prevents us from becoming a Community. There’s true crime and exploitation occurring every second around the world so why wouldn’t people be afraid? We cannot come to a state of tranquility or affirm generosity when people are afraid to offer. What do we do when people feel they don’t have anything to offer? How do we reshape a parent or students interactions with their neighbors if they were robbed by their neighbor, literally or hypothetically? I believe we should focus on gifts but the gifts can’t supersede the grand plan which is to build a better world; one of community, relate-ability, and possibility. We can’t become better if we don’t fix what’s wrong. I believe that fear exists because a cycle of exclusion and bias has not been broken. For this a change in perception is necessary, if we exploit that which was wrong in the first place and own up to our accountabilities then that is half the battle. I believe we can agree to disagree but all of us have to have and want identical goals for the greater good of humanity. If this is illustrated in the classroom, then we focus on gifts to build self-esteem and once those gifts are solid and unwavering we focus on grooming students for leadership. Music will be the tool by which we foster creativity and intelligence. Lessons in music education to produce leaders of excellence and concepts unheard of will look like composition, journaling, and exchange of musical flavors/ideas. There is much to be done but we have to be cognitively aware of how cause and effect affects us all.
I’d like you watch this short video and consider accountability and fear. It’s an extremist example but it isn’t too far off of our world today.
