"In frightening times, it makes a huge difference not to feel alone. Creating art with others in community enhances agency and strengthens self. Creativity requires an open heart; love enhances hope and diminishes fear."
"While a chilly fog shrouded the world outdoors, in this sacred space, oboes, flutes, and violins brought us to an earth waking after a long winter. Hope! I saw birds! Flowers! An apple tree under a vast blue sky. A robin with straw in her beak building a nest in the tree."
"Adults of all ages dressed in concert black-college students and professors, grandparents and great grandparents and all in-between- were spread across the packed room, taking up every chair, overflowing onto steps. Gathered in circles, many students sat on the floor, eyes on their cellphones."
A community concert featuring three valley choruses gathered at Mount Holyoke College Abbey to perform classical works including Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem. The performance brought together singers of all ages—students, professors, grandparents—in a packed interfaith sanctuary. The opening orchestral piece evoked imagery of spring's awakening after winter, with instruments conjuring birds' songs and dawn's light. Within this sacred space, despite cold fog outside, the music created vivid visions of renewal and hope. The collective musical experience demonstrated how shared creativity in community settings provides solace during difficult times and strengthens participants' sense of connection and purpose.
Read at Psychology Today
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