Teacher Drum Circle

 "The first drum beat we all heard was our mother." -John Densmore

Recently, for one of our PD days (Professional Development) we were scheduled to participate in a drum circle.  I had no clue what this had to do with my development as a professional.  I've always secretly wanted to participate in one, but didn't know how that would happen. Well...I guess that this would be my chance.

There are times that I wish I was more bold, in life.  Self esteem is not a quality that I possess in large doses.  There are days/weeks/years when my account is overdrawn.  Part of me is lazy, part is scared...when it comes to learning new instruments or putting myself "out there." The idea of "expressing myself" is a skosh terrifying.

I've always wanted to play drums, because I find myself drumming on body parts and surfaces.  Whenever I've been around drum sets, I want to go crazy and play something...but I always see a wall.  A wall that is too high to climb.

Back to the drum circle.  There were about 40 of us sitting in a gymnasium, each of us with a djembe in front of us.  A djembe is a West African drum that you play with your hands.  Our guest speaker's father actually hand made each drum, with goat skin. Impressed?  It was great!  He taught us how to play some beats and also encouraged us to make our own beat.  It was very fun and interesting.

The lesson that we all learned was that if you work together, you can make great music or produce something that is collaborative.  I learned that you don't need an entire drum set to make a beat and express yourself.  You also need to realize that sometimes you need help from an experienced individual in order to start small.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some time in, but still learning.

 "If you're not getting older, you're dead."  -Tom Petty There is an old saying that says "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." I've always had beef with this phrase. I realize that it's hard to learn how to do something new, especially if you've done something the same way for years/decades.  This saying is somewhat offensive to the 96 year old man who graduated college, Julia Child who published her first first cookbook at 49 or Bram Stoker who became famous after 50. When I was younger, I believed that you needed to know what you wanted to "do with your life" and that you needed to know this before you were 18. (laughs to self) How preposterous! (I've always wanted to say that phrase.) I learned the harsh lesson, when I was entering college that this was crazy.  In my humble opinion, there are few people who actually know what they will do with their life when they become an adult.  I went to college wanting to be a photog...
Read more

Do you, Mind?

 "The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each neuron connected to 10 thousand other neurons. Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe.". -Michio Kaku What is the brain? Is it the same thing as your mind?  Physically, I know that it is something found in our skulls. Does it function like a filing cabinet or a computer? Can you work it out like a muscle?  What causes memory loss or lowered brain function?  Are our memories 100% correct or do we remember just enough to tell a decent story? Is your personality or your soul stored in there?   I have really been thinking about my brain, over the past 20 or so years.  There were times, in my past, when it didn't feel like my brain worked properly. I still have days like that.  Concentration and memory are 2 things that are usually my focus. (Get it? Concentration/focus) It's very difficult to stay focused, on the regular.  I've never officially been diagnosed ...
Read more