Thomas Guthrie on moving forward
I was once taught an important idea, during a workshop on musical improvisation. I’m still very grateful for it. We were sitting in a circle. At any point, in that circle, the music would start. What we had to do then was ask ourselves ‘what does this need?’. If one of us got an answer, then we had a responsibility to share it (you’ll be glad to hear, dear reader, I resisted the impulse to say ‘to stop immediately’). But if we had no answer, even though we might have felt it needed something (but we just didn’t know what), then we had a responsibility to keep quiet. Not to play, or sing.
What does it need.
I think that’s a lesson that can apply to many situations in life (particularly perhaps the bit about keeping quiet).
But back in May this year, when I was still busy with the flurry of online ideas (there was a lot of editing) I wanted to ask myself this question. What did the world need? What did our industry need? What did people need from us? I asked myself to see whether I had an answer. And something did come, remarkably. So then, as I’d been taught, I tried to honour the responsibility I had to share that thing.
What was it?
The Hive. https://musicandtheatreforall.org/portfolio/the-hive/.
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And as we drag ourselves to the end of this endlessly uphill year, remember that times of upheaval are also opportunities for change.
Let’s be on the right side of it.
Let’s make a more resilient, and better, future.
And let’s keep helping each other to keep going.
With love from Tom and all at MTFA
