How that String Quartet Kept Up the Entrepreneurial Spirit While the Titanic Sank.

Negativity is a drug, my friends.

     It’s so easy to slip into a Grinch-like miserableness when you start dwelling on everything that’s wrong with the world. BUT—this post is about finding a way to channel whatever those string players on the Titanic found deep within themselves the night the ship went down.

Sure, maybe they were devout believers in “thou must play the whole set,” but I like to think they chose to focus on their truest love: music.

I once found my mom’s Grade 6 Essex yearbook from the late ’60s or early ’70s. It was filled with poetry, short stories, and opinion pieces… wild to think kids that age were submitting personal essays when kids these days can barely hold a pen, let alone write!

Now that I’ve completed the obligatory “crotchety old man complains about the youths” portion of this post… back to the yearbook.

One student wrote an opinion piece about the state of the world. She argued that people needed to care for the earth by polluting less. That children in the foster care system deserved loving families before people considered having more children of their own. That politicians should resolve global issues with words, not wars.

I read this back in 2019, and while I’d love to credit her, I don’t quite have it in me to dig through my parents’ basement to find it. So—to the anonymous writer: I’m sorry… I’m sure we would have been friends. 

Near Nuremburg.

Spin Cycle

    So, reflecting on her words about her world at the time, it sounds an awful lot like the one we’re living in now. Don’t worry—I know you don’t need a list of exactly how.

    That got me thinking about my grandparents. In 2022, I had some auditions in Europe and decided to rent a car to limit my COVID-19 exposure. I drove over 1300 km in 10 days, from Amsterdam all the way to Wernigerode… and back.

    On the return trip, I passed through a town called Braunschweig (or, as the Brits call it, Brunswick). My grandparents were displaced there after World War II before immigrating to Canada. My grandfather was drafted into Stalin’s army. My grandmother, along with her mother and two brothers, was taken from Kyiv to a labour camp. They spent their formative years surrounded by death, starvation, and corrupt regimes on all sides… living, ultimately, in one of the darkest timelines.

    As I pushed the little hybrid Prius up to 140 km/h on the autobahn, I was struck by a profound sadness looking out over the rolling green hills. Those same fields were once marched by sons who never returned home. Grass, trees, and flowers now grow where the soil was once drenched in blood. The war uprooted their lives and reshaped any dreams they might have had. That trauma still affects my family—and countless others—to this day, even though our grandparents are gone.

    And yet, they came to Canada, bought a home, and raised a family. Things got better. The hills in Braunschweig are green again—full of grass, trees, and flowers.

It is so easy to soak in the sadness. It's easy to be paralyzed with fear and anxiety. 

    In 2024, I saw Asteroid City. At the time, I was very confused by the plot and figured it was just another The French Dispatch-type movie… (sorry—I didn’t care for that one). But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

    I had my own theories, but then a Reddit post I stumbled across at 3 a.m. cleared it all up, and suddenly it clicked. On the surface, the film is about an alien arriving in Asteroid City, the government response, and how people move on from this bizarre event.

    To me—and clearly to a lot of Reddit users—it reads as a metaphor for the COVID-19 pandemic. Something completely surreal happens, disrupts everything, and yet… we still have to find a way to keep living our lives afterward.

"You Can't Wake Up if You Don't Fall Asleep"

    This was an important message of the film. It sounds simple—because it is. You can’t move on if you’re constantly dwelling on everything that’s wrong with the world.

    Letting yourself be distracted by movies, music, or anything you enjoy is part of how you “wake up” from that sadness. You can’t wake up if you never give yourself the chance to rest.

So what have I been doing?

1.) Face Books!

Well I started reading again. I really enjoy reading about music and the brain and I Heard there was a Secret Chord; Music as Medicine by Daniel Levitin was awesome. Around the end of the book he mentions string theory and how music quite possibly transcends multiple dimensions and then just ends the paragraph. I suppose that thought could be an entire book so it makes sense he didn't go any further. 

I have swapped my morning doom scroll for a book. Now I am on Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Sounds overwhelming but it isn't. His writing style is very easy and enjoyable. Highly recommend. 

2.) Vitamin D, The Gym and the Sauna

    Since it's not nearly as miserable out I have been trying to get outside as much as possible. Walking and listening to my favourite music has been a great boost to my mood. There is also no shortage of dogs to walk over here so the motivation often comes as a guilt trip via a pair of big ol' puppy dog eyes! 

 For when Canadian weather decides to do it's thing I have to do some serotonin farming via weights and stretches at the gym. 

3.) Rewatch your favourite shows, movies and try some new ones! 

I started rewatching Scrubs. I missed it so much and now I am even happier because the new season of the show is out! I had tears of the joy the first episode. Also 30 Rock is amazing. 

I saw Song Sung Blue at Christmas and it was a great film, as was the Hail Mary Project. I really enjoyed those outings. Do it!

   

4.) Music, sweet music, and community. 

    Having music to learn is an absolute blessing...especially when you're deadline is a ways away. Nothing makes me happier than sitting at the piano reading a score...or singing big ensembles with Pavarotti via a good speaker system and youtube.  

Another aspect I am grateful for in these times is the opportunity for community music making. I love singing with my choir. It's a treat to my soul to sing with other humans every week. I also enjoy the community of my students and colleagues in the lesson centers I work in. 

5.) Friends, and Family.

    Try to reach out to friends and family when you can. Sending a quick 'hey' or even a meme here and there can go a long way. No man is an island, and we all need support at some point. A network needs maintenance like anything else. People understand that lives are busy, and will appreciate the effort and will likely return it in kind. Be part of the village. 

Anyway, I hope this helps!

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