It’s Monday, and we are “On the move” again! If you are just tuning in, Sarah and I recently created a new project we are calling “Mondays On the Move” to promote freedom of movement. Each Monday, we choose a different place to perform one of the migration songs we have written with refugees and…
Category: performance ethnography
Gotta get out
Most days, I live in my mind. I staff museum sites at a park, and there are many hours of the day where my own inner voices carry on a heated dialogue while I intermittently sit, stand, and talk with visitors. This winter was a rough one for me, both emotionally and for my immune system. On…
Who is Story-to-Song?
When I begin working with a participant on their Story-to-Song, I hear a few comments on a regular basis: I have a terrible voice. I am not an artist. I am not creative. I do not have any stories that are interesting. This is where I come in and assure you that your stories are…
Getting Started
Monday was my first day in the Merrimack Valley Sandbox Winter Accelerator program. Six hours of orientation with first impressions, presentations, introductions, elevator pitches, and everything in between. It was the beginning of a new experience, one that promises to be challenging and transformative. My own first impression was one of slight intimidation. Despite the…
Alternate Reality and Alter Ego
I promised that I would be pushing the proverbial envelope with regard to my music and songwriting career, and I am a keeper of promises! This past Thursday was Halloween. I have not dressed up or gone out for a Halloween event in over a decade. For Halloween 2013, I decided to dress in the…
Pushing the proverbial envelope
I made a pact with my songwriting, artist self to try to do something important and meaningful each week with regard to music. I envisioned that this would be help me to stay on task in following my calling and creating the space in the universe and in my life to pursue a career as…
Karma and Song
It is nearing the end of my eleventh day as a furloughed federal employee. I am doing my best to keep busy and make the most of my time off. For me, keeping busy entails creative expression. I have passed many hours working at what keeps me feeling alive—songwriting. In the evenings, I have been…
What did you learn in school today?
I spent the past four years in a doctoral program studying sustainability education. With each year in the program, I began to view sustainability as something that begins from within. Practice what you preach Walk the talk Be the change These are common phrases I have heard that speak to my own definition of sustainability….
More of a good thing
In my mind, more music in the world is a wonderful thing. Combining music with the sharing of stories from real people and their lives is even better. The more songs I write from the stories of human lives, the more I want to spread those songs far, wide, and everywhere in between. This is…
Growing pains
I recently attempted Story-to-Song (STS) in a new forum. I had spent a week learning about an education technique called Facilitated Dialogue, a new realm the National Park Service is exploring for expanding beyond the formal interpretation techniques that have been employed for many years. Rather than the park ranger speaking as the authority on…
Marieke is Guiding Song 