THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW

        Journal-writing is a time-honored way to express what we find difficult to say out loud, to reflect on these experiences and mine them for meaning. Medical research now shows that journal-style writing has distinct health benefits as well. A study published in the journal Medical Humanities recommends journal-writing as an extremely useful tool for successful coping with life’s stresses and traumas. The journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment reported research that found expressive writing to be a therapeutic tool that resulted in both improved physical and psychological health. New evidence shows that developing the craft of writing about personal stories, feelings, situations and memories raises awareness about issues and concerns that need our attention and at the same time increases creative satisfaction and self-confidence.

     This 6-week group series is an opportunity to learn valuable techniques for entering a frame of mind conducive to journaling, begin a practice of journal-writing and share about your process over a period of 12 weeks. While the content of personal journaling may not be something you choose to share in a group, we can discuss what works, what helps and how the meaning of a personal experience changes over time through the writing process.

Six-sessions, Bi-weekly,  begins TUESDAY OCTOBER 19, 2010 6:30-8 P.M.

contact Jude Treder-Wolff at  631-366-4265  631-366-4265 to reserve your space.  More information available at www.lifestage.org

 

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized creativity, healing, health, journaling, self-awareness, transformation, wellness, writing

 

by Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP

Accepting. Improvisation is an exercise in taking what is given - a suggestion from the audience, the rules of a game or a fellow improviser’s action - and building on it, the practice of which trains us to deal with the unexpected as we co-create stories with others. Accepting what is external to us is the first step to fixing a dysfunctional relationship and enhancing what’s working in a good one.
Listening. Theater games require close attention to what others say in the context of the exercise so our response connects appropriately. In one commonly-used game a player begin a story with 2 sentences, points to another group member who must pick up the story with 2 more sentences and so on until every person in the group has contributed to the narrative. In this game, as in real life relationships, we do not know when we will be called upon to contribute and we must cohere to the story line. A narrative co-created with others who may take the story in a direction we had not anticipated has its challenges, but tuning in closely to their thoughts and feelings is always worth the effort.

Making your partner look good. Scenes created through theater games always involve an exchange with a partner who is out on a limb equally as much as we are. Accepting and developing a partner’s choices builds trust and generates a wider range of risk-taking possibilities. In life this one choice has multiple benefits: it enlarges our sense of self, grows the positive energy in a relationship, and maximizes the potential of both.

Agreements. To produce something meaningful out of an imaginary idea, the participants must agree on the rules of the game, e.g. “we will have a conversation in which each sentence starts with the next consecutive letter of the alphabet,” or “we will talk about something that happened today in the style of a soap opera.” The parameters of the game drive novelty and invention and keep us on our toes. In a similar way, healthy partnerships use agreements to keep partners accountable to one another while distributing power equally.

Creative tension. The potential for failure, not knowing what will happen next, the “in the moment” demand for a response that are elements of live improvisation bring out fear, perfectionsm, self-consciousnes and all sorts of control issues. But the good will and generosity of spirit inherent in the philosophy of improvisation invite risk-taking and support spontaneity that is then available for other applications, such as taking the emotional and psychological risks that characterize a passionate life.

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized creativity, improvisation, relationships, theater games

Music represents everything good about being human, but it does not have to be fancy to be authentic. This is clear from the start when learning to play the piano. Talent is not required for this, any more than knowledge about the internal combustion engine is required to drive a car. That’s not as strange a comparison as you might think - both cars and pianos operate according to certain physical laws: The Law of Acoustics, which is the science of sound, The Law of Gravity, which is the science of steering clear of any area where a piano or a car are suspended from a crane, and the Law of Reciprocity, the principle that in learning an instrument and in life, we get back what we put in.
To start, some basics. Understand that the piano is in charge. It is pure potential when well-tuned, and can deliver Mr. Rogers’ theme song and Rachmaninoff with equal commitment. The musician-in-training might think of herself as the hands, foot and consciousness behind the whole operation but lets face it. She is merely the muscle through which the piano can run away with the show.
It bears repeating, the piano is in charge. It will not lie. An f sharp is an f sharp, and if we hit the f key by mistake the piano will sound that f and reveal our clanger. The nice part is the piano has absolutely no judgment about wrong notes. It will always reflect back to us the quality of our effort, but this has nothing to do with opinion or approval. Once we register the feedback, we can go back and play the passage again, mindful of that f sharp. Then play it again and again and again, until it is no longer necessary to think about it. Once the skills get into our hands, well, that’s when things can really start to happen.
The piano is infinitely patient, and will never abandon us. It has the upper hand, so why should it care how long it takes for us to be ready to rock and roll? But this is what balances things out: the piano needs us in order to fulfill its purpose. Without us, it is just an attractive piece of furniture gathering dust and rust while all this amazing music is possible if we do our part. The piano has no judgment about this either. That’s just how it is. A player needs an instrument, an instrument needs a player, and together they are more than the sum of their parts.
Here is the most important way learning the piano is like life: there are always hard parts. Parts we want to skip. Parts we would like to fake, or rush through, or bypass altogether, or call up our friends to tell about the injustice and horror of them. Mastering these passages is not required. But trying to ignore them will leave us feeling terminally inadequate. Because once we encounter them, it is not really possible to pretend we didn’t back down from the challenge. Tackling them might not work out.. It is also possible we will never again fear the experience of being a rank beginner.
Life has periods of relative quiet and complacency, when we breeze through whatever arises and nothing seems too far from the way we thought things would be. These times are like playing when we know the neighbors can hear, and instead of feeling self-conscious and going all pianissimo, we play big and out because this life is our movie and this music is our music. Then something explodes. The baby will not stop crying and we cannot figure out why. Nothing seems to stop that leak from the ceiling in the basement. Its four a.m. and we see our daughter’s bedroom light is on but she is not in her bed. The radiologist just called to discuss something on a mammogram. The hard parts can seem to demand aggressive forceful attacks on the music, or a tendency to rush through just to get it all over with.
The piano will not insist that we change the way we think about the tough passages. It won’t belabor the fact that the only way to get to the end of a song is to play through it. To get through these sections is to break the whole thing down into the smallest possible fragments, just two or three notes at a time, and go over them slowly, repeatedly, and with precision. Persistence is everything. One hand at a time. Repetitive attention to specific, even tiny movements, sends the message to the brain that we can do it. We can because we broke it down into manageable parts. This is the way through. And it works. A measure a day, or a measure a week if it is very demanding, is how the new connections are made, until there is no thought involved. It is going to change everything, to find out we can get through the hard parts.
When we are learning note by note, the piano is one with us. When we are storming through Beethoven’s 5th sonata, the piano is one with us. Wherever we are in the learning brings out what was inside us all along, but needed the piano to bring it out.
In music, and in life, there is movement, and surprise, and transformation, but only if we enter into it completely. Give our self over. Play the piece again and again. Think of nothing except what needs to happen now, and it will reveal things to us. The better we know the notes, the freer we will be with them, and they become a part of us. For that to happen we have to focus our involvement and concentration. We can think of nothing else. And we will get back a feeling so pure and complete we will not need anything more.
Music talks. Listen. Play. Repeat.

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized creativity, discover, innovation, music, novelty, practice, self-expression

Military families face a daunting readjustment when soldiers come home, making social forces that are stressful for the rest of us are even more intense and destabilizing for them. Foreclosure rates in military towns are four times the national average (”Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times the U.S. Rate”). Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times the U.S. Rate”). Any contribution we make to that 1% of the American population that sacrifices so much for the other 99% - from the practical help we might offer through our professional expertise to the psychological healing effects of personal gestures made through neighborhood and community life - is returning a favor we cannot really repay.

Some ideas:

Give discounts at our place of business to military families who have returned to civilian life.

Attorneys and other professionals offer reduced fees to assist returning troops - one of the subgroups hit directly by the housing crisis - and offer to help them navigate the intricacies of home-buying through the Veterans Administration.

Professional coaches and job recruiters could reach out to returning soldiers to donate their expertise through groups that teach networking and other employement-related skills. A January 2009 study issued by the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans Association found that 57% of veterans were “unsure how to professionally network,” 72% “feel unprepared to negotiate salary and and benefits,” and 76% were “unable to effectively translate military skills” to potential employers.

Whether in private practice or outpatient clinic or counseling center, therapists who provide services to veterans and their families at reduced rates are giving an incalculable service not only to people who can benefit from quality professional treatment, but to society as a whole.

Mental health and medical professionals can also help through education to reduce the stigma that surrounds the need for psychological treatment in general and enlighten people about the far-reaching effects of post-traumatic stress in a person’s family, work and inner life.

Public recognition and gratitude at ballgames and church services and concerts, anywhere people are gathered for a good time honors the sacrifice of these families and keeps them in our consciousness.

What we do to help veterans and their families stabilize in their return to civilian life is a gesture of gratitude for their service but also a contribution to our common future. The opportunities to give are right in front of us, every day, in ways that bring our soldiers home in every sense of the word.

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized

Stress is a bit like falling in love - its all about chemistry. 21st century life, with its crazy pace and fancy technology transforming everything before our eyes, actually started out like many romances - all sexy and new, heady with that heightened sense of possibility. But an adrenaline rush - whether its from falling in love or failing an exam - must be balanced by more sustainable and stable emotional states or the intensity will burn us out.    Psychological stress produces the same bio-chemical rush of cortisol and adrenaline that primitive man experienced running from a charging lion but with less clear ways of knowing the danger has passed. Now that we have stresses related to economic uncertainty and critical bosses who remind us of our moody old dad who could never be pleased, now that our own habits of mind can bring on the cortisol cocktail whether or not we actually need to gear up for fight or flight, the effort to eliminate internal scripts based on hurtful, discouraging relationships in the past is more essential than ever (also good to remember this in love affairs, by the way).   The most damaging perception is that we are on our own in a hostile world, or that we are better off going it alone than risking another hurt. While there is a risk associated with every human relationship,  we need each other, we need to have good times with good people who get us as much as we get them. Connection to social networks are directly related to better overall health. Connections to many different kinds of people adds another protective level, because people who have diverse social networks have greater resiliency to the negative effects of stress, That’s not just the view of a therapist still infatuated with human creative potential - its science. According to the feature article in the current issue of Scientific American, social networks strengthen our resilience to stress by expanding the range of choices available to us for coping with difficult life changes.  “Participation in group life can be like an inoculation against threats to mental and physical health,” the article states. “This is much cheaper than the pharmaceutical pathway, with far fewer side effects. And as a means of keeping the doctor at bay, it is also likely to prove much more enjoyable.”“ We can ramp up our social skills through direct participation in groups that give us a chance to use our talents, or help others develop theirs. Sharing our strengths with others builds up our own awareness of what we already have going for us and brings in supportive people to help us focus on the positive. This is key to creative problem-solving = a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that positive feelings toward others improves the way people cope in a crisis.[i] Social experiences that expose us to diverse groups of people are particularly important for 21st century challenges, which will require more complex relationship skills: adaptability, flexibility, and cross-cultural awareness. But these capacities have the side benefit of boosting physical health, because one of the brain chemicals that makes us feel so amazing when we fall in love is dopamine, the chemical associated with a sense of reward which also is released by the creative process, when we have direct involvement in the production of something new. This is amplified when the creative engagement is in collaboration with a group.  In the Network Economy, we have to be ready to ask “how can I help,” “how can we work together?” “what can I contribute that might lead to something innovative?” And in the process we self-medicate. Its all about love, and that’s what we call a kick in the head.      [i] Daubman, K. A. and Nowicki, G. P. “Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving”  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52, (1987) 1122-1131. .

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Ten Tools For Creative Thinking

By Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP

Creative thinking is a skill we can learn and practice as we go through our daily routines. Every problem, stress, or conflict is an opportunity to experiment with a new approach or attitude. Here are some tips for tapping that internal resource:

 

 

1.       Improv-It:   Improvisation is the art of making things up on the spot, but making them up within the form of a game or specific instruction, such as “tell us about your day as if you are the world’s most depressing newscaster.” Improv games stimulate creative energy by engaging the right-brain’s orientation to novelty within a set of rules that supply the left brain’s search for order and organization. Some ways to do this in daily life include: have a conversation with your kids in which each person’s sentence has to start with the next letter of the alphabet, e.g. “All of us can play this game,” “But what if I can’t think that fast?” “Come on, just try,” etc. At the next work team meeting, have a conversation using only questions, or one where the next person has to use the last word of the person who just spoke.

 

2.       Do the opposite. When Seinfeld’s iconic loser George Costanza attributes his misery to having followed his instincts and decides to do the opposite of his own best judgment, he meets previously unattainable women and lands a job with the New York Yankees. When we choose to approach a situation from a completely different direction than what is ingrained and habitual we experience a degree of uncertainty that triggers the right-brain to search for a new and previously untried response.  While we may not realize sitcom-perfect reversals of fortune through use of this technique, we will be gaining a psychological strength that increases our ability to size up unfamiliar situations quickly and respond effectively.

 

 

3.       Feel the love.  Creativity is positively associated with joy and love and negatively associated with anger, fear, and anxiety. A 2006 study[i]  showed that positive emotions literally expand our field of attention so that we perceive a greater range of choices and are less inhibited about trying them out, part of a growing body of knowledge about the ways that positive emotions promote a creative perspective on the problems of life.

 

4. Observe synchronicities. True story: In 1981 I spent several months in Australia, where for awhile I had no job, little money and few friends so spent a great deal of time reading  and writing at the library (because it was free).  The journals of New Zealand short story writer Katherine Mansfield became a source of strength at that time of great uncertainty, after I stumbled upon a quote attributed to her that spoke to my immediate situation: “Risk! Risk anything!” she wrote. “Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” Fast forward to 2001. I write a one-woman show titled Whistling In The Dark about that experience of stepping into uncertainty, and while the show is running at a club in Manhattan I open the Sunday New York Times Book  Review section and find a review of a Katherine Mansfield biography that had just come out. The article’s title? “Whistling In The Dark.” Synchronicities are these kinds of events, co-occuring in ways that have meaning to us but are not causally related. They connect us to intuition, the internal GPS that guides to choose rightly even when the world around us does not approve or understand.

 

5.       Go Within. Maintaining radio silence with the world around us for a period of time makes us more attuned to our inner world where insights, observations and ideas form. No texts, no twitters, no exceptions.  Our field of awareness – generally crowded with the pressures and stresses of getting things done – needs a chance to disconnect from incoming messages and pressures so that the less structured, seemingly random inspirations and intuitions can bubble up.  A busy schedule may take precedence over carving out a piece of quiet, but even a drive to pick up the kids at soccer can be an opportunity if we turn off the radio, breathe slowly at the red lights, and listen.

 

6. Act as if.  Changing a role changes the frame through which we view a situation and opens up a range of new possible responses. New ways of  acting follow new ways of thinking, but mental habits take time to change, and as the pace of life escalates we are likely to encounter situations in which we need to take action quickly. We can “rehearse” for this very real possibility in the course of daiy life by choosing a different role than we usually take in a familiar situation. Talkative and outgoing in a group situation? Practice being the quiet listener or appreciative audience. If the kids’ fighting tends to trigger a desire to referee or add to the tension with more yelling, view it through the lense of a sportscaster observing the action but detached from it.

 

7.  Go With The Resistance. Some people complain about things they will do nothing whatsoever to change, and yet we give them our heartfelt attention and counsel. Some people constantly, often insistently, offer advice we neither asked for nor need. Add to those any other of the ingrained personality quirks, the kind that make us feel resentful and drained, and think about this: resistance is futile.  We waste precious emotional energy and space in our head trying to change other peoples’ behavior, energy we should instead dedicate to creating our lives and engaging with our passions. Give a superficial “thanks, I’ll think about that” to the advice-giver, a surface empathy to the complainer, and get on with something real.

 

8.       Daydream.  When stressful problems need to be addressed, it may seem natural to force ourselves to concentrate and focus on them until we work them out. But new research shows that possible solutions to the more complex problems we are dealing with are more likely to emerge into consciousness when we let our minds wander. [ii]

9.       Reframe negativity.  Creativity is a kind of psychological “muscle” that, like physical muscles, becomes more reliable and ready to take things on through training and repetition. We develop it by relating to adversity the way a body-builder relates to weights, as providing the resistance necessary to tone and strengthen a specific set of muscles, i.e., a dominant co-worker likely to grab credit for the team’s hard work can be viewed as a much-needed catalyst for growing our own self-assertion, a draining relationship the stimulus for locating and expressing stronger personal boundaries. By reframing our response to the negative people and situations that are beyond our control to change, we remove their power to control us and become more resilient to the harmful effects of stress.

10.   Get Discontented. A common theme that comes up in my training seminars and networking workshops is the disconnect so many talented, successful people feel from their own passions, especially when their work life has no avenue for their expression. One way to re-discover our internal drives is to notice what news articles and stories elicit a strong emotional reaction within us, and follow those feelings. Ask “what is it about this that gets me fired up? What part of me is activated by knowing this is going on?” Our abandoned passions and gifts are right next to our discontents, so follow the feelings until inertia is no longer an option.

 

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized

SELF-KNOWLEDGE QUIZ

RATE THE DEGREE TO WHICH EACH STATEMENT IS TRUE FOR YOU:

 Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

1. I’ve been able to adapt to changes in my life in the past, and see change as a vital part of life.

 Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

2. I try to adapt, but I can become pretty fixed on ‘how things used to be’, and sometimes find it pretty difficult to accept change and move on.

 Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

3. I think if I couldn’t laugh at the difficulties in my life, I would have much more difficulty coping with them.

 Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

4. I always know what’s bothering me, or I put thought and energy into trying to name my emotions. Figuring this out often helps me to process it.

5. I can’t  always put my finger on the specifics of why I’m so upset or exactly what my emotions are.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

6. I don’t see much point in focusing on what I feel. If I get into action I always feel better.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

7. When times are tough, I try to find people who will help me lighten up.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

8. I have faith in a higher power, a greater good, or something outside of myself that can give me strength.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

9. I have many people I can talk to about my feelings and circumstances, or at least a few rock-solid supporters that I know I can rely on.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

10. I have trouble sticking with relationships. Things always seem to go wrong.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

11. When faced with a major challenge, I tend to gather as much information as possible, make an action plan—and then follow it!

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

12. I like to learn as much as possible about a challenging situation, but sometimes get stuck in a state of worry and anxiety, which makes it difficult to move forward.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

13. I try to avoid thinking about problems and just go about my life. If something needs to be done, it’ll become apparent eventually.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

14. I know what foods are good for me and I make a conscious effort to keep the good ones available as much as possible.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

15. When coping with a serious difficulty, I always know I can get through it.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

16. I tend to wonder why negative situations happen to me more than to other people.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

17. I am a forgiving person, but if I’m hurt by someone important to me I have to work it through to get there.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

18. I live a very meaningful life.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

20. I have overcome major obstacles to get what I want in life.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

21. I have met some goals in my life but I tend to give up at on others and I don’t know why.
Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

22. I recognize that we can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we react and that can make all the difference in life.

Very true       Mostly true       Somewhat true      I think about it      Not true

JudeTrederWolff Uncategorized

Self-Knowledge is the psychological equivalent of a bank statement or investment portfolio. It helps us see where our efforts are paying off, and where we need to grow. There is no end game except awareness that can maximize the return on our energy, and creative growth which yields a more satisfying life. The questions in this quiz point to the mental habits that either promote or limit positive approaches to life’s difficulties, and are not meant to measure or judge one’s progress, only point out where we might redirect our thinking. Self-knowledge is key to our capacity to developing positive social networks that are more and more essential to gaining and using the skills necessary to navigate our ever-changing social worlds at home and at work. 

    This self-awareness quiz is designed to focus on the traits that a growing body of research has shown to be related to resiliency - the capacity to successfully bounce back from adversity and gain mastery over stressful circumstances. The good news is that these traits can be learned and developed through shifts in thinking, engaging in creative pursuits, supportive social networks, and practice practice practice.

Here are the traits, along with the questions related to each of them:

Emotional Awareness: “I know what I am feeling and why I feel that way” Questions 4, 5, 6

Perseverance: “I stick with things that are important to me even when its tough” Questions 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 21

Sense of internal control over my life , my thoughts and my emotions: ‘I am internally focused, I am not overly influenced by others or driven by trying to please others or gain approval” Questions 18, 19 20, 22

Social Connection: “I have people and places to go for help when I need and I do,” Questions 7, 9, 10

Sense of Humor: “I am sometimes able to laugh at life’s difficulties and always try to be aware of what is funny about things in daily life,” Questions 7, 15

Perspective, “What things don’t go well or I make a mistake I try to see what I can learn from the situation; I find meaning in the challenges and losses of life,” Questions 6, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19

Spirituality: “I have an internal connection to something larger and more powerful than myself; I practice meditation or some kind of reflection that quiets my mind and emotions,” Questions 8, 15, 18, 22

Creativity “I try to find new ways to look at things, situations and people; I am curious and try new things just to find out what I can discover; I am willing to explore different attitudes that are suitable for changing situations,”
Questions 2, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21

Resourcefulness “I seek out information, connections, supplies and partners I need to solve problems and create my life” Questions

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      As a psychodramatist, often faced with a group of people in conflict- a couple, a family, a work team - I appreciate the creative tools through which Action Methods help obtain as much of the whole story as possible. The conflicts that present themselves, the ones people are talking about, can have roots in hidden power struggles that are part of the group’s culture from which no one involved can get sufficient distance to fully understand. Recognizing these underlying truths will either transform the couple or group or break it apart; toxic foundations will either give way to progress in a group or organization or stall growth through terminal stagnation.  Action Methods help reveal what a group has not wanted to know about itself, but needs to know to have a healthy future.

     Issues of race and racism are among the most difficult hidden truths for groups to deal with whether the issues come up in professional settings or personal experiences. Getting the whole story is essential and creating safety in order to get the whole story is key. Over the course of my 30-plus career as a psychodramatist and clinical social worker, I have been both troubled and inspired doing this work. Troubled because of the pain that racism imposes and our cultural denial of how much healing there is still to be done, our first black President notwithstanding. And inspired when people confront their own suppressed or subconscious prejudice, because it can be very uncomfortable to recognize the inhumanity of some of commonly-held assumptions and attitudes.

     In November 1992 the news show PrimeTime ran a segment on racism called “True Colors.”  The show had sent out two investigators, one white and one black, and used hidden cameras to observe and film how they were treated in a number of different situations. At the employment agency the worker was courteous to the white but lectured the black. At a drycleaning business, the white investigator was told there were job openings moments after the black was told that all jobs in the shop were filled. An auto salesman quoted the black a higher price and stiffer terms than the white on the identical car. Remember, this was 1992, a supposedly somewhat enlightened time, but there was no white outrage when this aired, no memorable self-reflection as a nation on the ingrained nature of racist thinking and behavior expressed in ordinary interactions between people in daily situations that is a constant reality for people of color.
      Fast forward to 2009. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomoyer sparks outrage over a speech in which she explored the impact of a judge’s race, gender and social class on his/her understanding and interpretation of the law. Her nomination itself is historic, the first Latina female to be considered for membership in a very elite group - of the 110 Supreme Court judges that have served over the history of our nation, 106 of them have been white men. Her speech hit a nerve because she challenged a commonly-held illusion, at least by a number of very vocal and prominent media and government figures - that the white male Supreme Court judges have always transcended their race, gender and life experience in their interpretation of the law. She is taking a lot of hits for focusing on what is painfully obvious to anyone with even a superficial knowledge of history.

    The Declaration of Independence declares our “inalienable” rights, an adjective for which my Word 2007 Thesaurus provides a number of synonyms: Unchallengeable. Absolute. Immutable. Not able to be forfeited. Unassailable. Incontrovertible. Indisputable. Undeniable. Strong words. And yet we know that over the course of our nation’s history non-whites have had their rights not only challenged and disputed, but outright denied down to their very humanity in the case of slavery. During the reign of Jim Crow in the south, terrorism in the form of lynching and the systematic humiliation and oppression of African-Americans went on with impunity, and the simple accident of being born white entitled a person to the full spectrum of what we call civil rights denied to people of color. It was a 150-year-old, unquestioned, institutionally-supported affirmative action program for white people.
The label of “reverse racist” has been attached to Judge Sotomayor because she dared to call attention to something we have trouble facing about our society, but as citizens we owe it ourselves to understand the points she actually made  by reading her entire speech. Read it online at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/politics/15judge.text.html?_r=1 

     I think this sums up the core of her position, and something we might all take to heart as we go about our lives: “I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I re-evaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires.” 

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by Wells Hanley - a freelance musician in Richmond, VA, who performx at clubs and festivals all over the USA and Europe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy, and performed and/or recorded with jazz greats Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, and David Liebman; rock icons Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford, and Tim Reynolds; folk singer John McCutcheon; and Broadway stars Tom Wopat and Darius DeHaas. Wells has a Bachelor of Music from James Madison University and a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music. In his spare time, he writes songs which he sings and records. His first solo CD entitled “camels are coming” is expected this summer. More at myspace/Wells Hanley.

     As a self-employed artist, part of me easily resonates to the painful relationship many artists fhave to networking - we view it as a necessary evil, having to gear up for surface level conversations in the hope of scoring a gig or a gallery placement. Something we feel pressured to do but do not want to do. Some people are just good at it and I’m not.
Part of the issue is that many artists are introverts, happiest in our own home, tending to our inner creative process. We find a room full of people we don’t know exhuasting - even terrifying. The popular American “go-getter” model makes no sense to us. We prefer instead to build our careers from the inside out.

     When we think of the art of networking as surface level, meaningless, and not nearly as important as what’s going on inside our heads creatively, we distance ourselves from something that is actually much more relevant to our lives and livelihood. If we can think of it as working a “net” that is an extension of our art, as something meaningful and important on a soul level, perhaps we can redeem this art and claim it as our own.

     A common misconception is that networking is a hunter-gatherer activity when it actually follows much more of an agrarian model. Networking is not about going out to “get” something, it is about forming connections in the interest of community.

     A literal net, like we might use in fishing, is a series of strings drawn together in a way that forms a grid, which acts like a strainer. If applied in a skillful way it can capture what would otherwise flow past us. We may have no specific interest in some of the fish streaming past us, but we have to do something about the rumbling in our stomachs! The skill in “working” the net is not in specific techniques for catching the fish but in how we build it. If our social net is built well and maintained with care it will do the work for us.

     The substance of the net is where our individuality is key, because it is different in different fields. In my field of music, the net is built out of a mutual love of music as pure music-separate from and more important than any business surrounding the making of music. With this in mind, if I am to be a good networker, every action I take within the network must take into consideration a mutual love of music-whether I am looking for, accepting, or turning down opportunitiesz.

     As an introvert, I do still sometimes struggle against my typology in order to accept invitations. Being social often involves a kind of tension with which I am familiar. But I can endure this discomfort nowing that it is in the interest of community building. Being a part of the music community not only opens door in terms of concrete gig offers, but it lends me a sense of belonging which is priceless. And this iner sense contributes to my art in ways I could have expected.

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