"As soon as they began to work, the work taught them how to create...and the blessing of the Holy One inhabited their hands." (Zohar 1:74a)
Maimonides teaches that giving a person independence so that they won't require tzedakah is the highest form of tzedakah. Tzedakah is but one pillar of giving that engenders independence. In the current economy, it is good to remember that no matter how modest one's means may be at any time - whether we find ourselves on the giving or receiving end of charity - the decision to honor life and act in accordance with this covenant transforms personal and communal poverty and suffering into the wealth of well-being.
We each arrive with something important to contribute to the world that will come to express itself both tangibly and intangibly. This remains true until the end of our lives, regardless of gains and losses of health, faith, status, physical or cognitive ability. When it comes to creativity, each of us is a storehouse of immense richness, knowledge and possibility. Some may be less accustomed to, or less comfortable with, identifying or fully valuing such inner resources as their own. It is probably accurate to say that we all have gifts and strengths we underplay or fail to claim at times. So, how do we come to know what we actually have to give?
Fortunately, like the restoration of balance, the gathering of sparks, and the repair of the world, the emergence of self-awareness, self-esteem, and empowerment, along with a healthy humility, happens by degrees. As the Zohar teaches, all that is required to discover and reclaim our human gifts and to become active participants in a reciprocal process of blessing, is to begin the work and let it teach us. Thus, awareness, respect and generosity toward others grow, leading in turn to authentic and lasting independence for ourselves, and the individuals and communities we serve.
Whether in times of plenty or in times of scarcity the equation remains steady: All efforts count as we come to identify, develop and share the renewable resources that are our inherent gifts. In fact, recent scientific research confirms that adopting practices which support incremental mastery of a creative or practical task or skill boosts immune system response. A tangible furthering of health and well-being results from beginning the work and letting it teach us. In this way, the smallest act of generosity, perhaps even the impulse to give, can, when nurtured, support our appreciation of our own and others' resources and, significantly build our capacity for both receiving and giving with ever greater alacrity. In other words, generosity engenders renewal; resource sharing increases available good (and goods) for all. Or as the great songwriter Malvina Reynolds put it: "Love is something - if you give it away - you end up having more."
I started learning these lessons in my 20's when I was asked to begin writing songs with elders in an adult day care center in San Francisco. The invitation to put my musical skills to work in a new form of service was to be a "learning on the job" experience. I had not worked with elders in a group setting before; and being freshly out of college, with no prior training in gerontology or healthcare, I was being asked to embark upon what was really a journey of faith (though I couldn't have named it then) - faith in the power of music, in the human imagination, and in the ability - and the imperative - we all have to create.
The first elders I worked with were Americans and immigrants, of many languages, cultures and parts of the world. All attended the center to receive support for their physical, cognitive, or mental health. Most were low income. We sang together in a large room with sonic distractions, bright florescent lights, and the accompanying aches, pains, challenges, and fidgety-ness that punctuate the rhythm of a group of folks in their 60's, 70's and 80's, ranging from the very alert to those with evident dementia and the impacts of depression and medication. About 30% of the room at any time appeared to be bored or asleep. Most were willing to try anything musical though few initially grasped that we'd be writing an original song.
As we began the journey of musical discovery together, I was called to, however imperfectly, teach songwriting by example. In order to stand on solid ground it was essential that I be authentic to my own voice and process and that I include everyone. Listening deeply to each elder I sought to create the interpersonal conditions that might lead them to invite me into their process in turn. It worked. Within just fifty minutes on our first try they were fully underway composing a song honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The process, now called Songwriting Works™, has been going strong ever since.
I had no plan when starting this work nearly twenty years ago - only a heart for true-life stories and a sincere commitment to apply my musical skills in whatever form could be of service. My mentor, Robert Rice, a pioneer in healing arts, insisted that I use my job as artist-in-residence as an opportunity to find the place where my voice as an artist and my voice as a leader converged. In short, he offered me a path to my own independence by hiring me, encouraging me to find and eventually claim what I had to offer by giving to a community who rarely received parallel opportunities to find their own voices, speak their own truths, hear one another, and be affirmed and honored for their contributions to their community.
In many ways, the greatest gift Rice may have given me was the assignment to make sure that the work I undertook would also be of service to me and to my life as an artist. This, I can say in retrospect, was the magic ingredient that ensured sustainability for the project and allowed me to follow this experiment into the larger landscape of my life for the next two decades. I thank him to this day for calling forth my authenticity and my nascent leadership skills, showing me that what I had inside could become a valuable experiential gift for others.
Inclusive reciprocity is intrinsic generosity in action. Composing and sharing songs is a generative and therefore generous experience for both singer and audience. Likewise, tzedakah is a practice that generates life by giving life, as we find tangible and intangible ways to offer people a variety of keys to independence, to finding pathways back to themselves and to community.
There are so many "intangible assets" we can offer one another to improve quality of life on all sides of an exchange. When we share authentic moments - kindness, acceptance, inclusion, respect, knowledge, humor, imagination, invention, encouragement, patience, communion and the creative expression of our unique voices, thoughts, and gifts -- we exercise and increase our collective capacity to live well.
This is not only a spiritual and sociological reality - it is a neuro-biological fact. As with mastery, science confirms that meaningful social engagement also boosts immune system response. Cooperation is healing. This kind of medicine, which has no cost but our time, is a renewable resource - one we can create together and deliver as needed.
By the time we age, we each carry countless scars from disappointments and outright rejections of who we are and what we have to give. And yet, our inner creative gifts persist even if they've atrophied from lack of appropriate reception. As Dr. Gene Cohen's Creative Aging studies have shown, with age, and even with deterioration and illness, the human body, mind and spirit remain attuned to our inherent nature: to learn, to participate, to express, and to give. It aids our individual and collective health significantly when we activate these internal processes.
When we create opportunities for elders and others to collaborate, cooperate and contribute constructively to the greater community, we help them move from the margins of isolation into the center, from being a burden or a "non-person" to being recognized. We include and validate them as creative, vitally important members of community, collective history and heritage. We help them to become heroes and give them ways to leave a legacy to generations to come.
Vocalist, songwriter, author, producer, and cantorial soloist, Judith‑Kate Friedman performs and lectures internationally.
As founding director of the non-profit Songwriting Works™, she has composed nearly 300 songs with more than 2800 elders, families and health and arts professionals.
Recipient of the 2008 Blair Sadler International Healing Arts award, and a 2009 Creativity and Aging in America grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Songwriting Works is currently training the first corps of professional musician-facilitators to replicate its programs nationally.
To learn more about Songwriting Works programs and trainings please see their website: http://www.songwritingworks.org
