The “N” Words: Negativity – Part I
Shooting ourselves in the foot with misinformation and gossip, teachers without hope, and personal demons.
As pointed out in “Narcissism” a common tool of narcissists is negativity; mainly, using it to put down others in order to elevate themselves. They manipulate it and wield it like a dark, weird magic.
Negativity can be seductive, hypnotic and all-consuming for anybody really. Sometimes (I admit) it can be fun to talk trash.
However, some become so enraptured by throwing trash around, they spend their entire lives wallowing in the mud. They live in miserable denial, unaware of the negativity’s power or its effect on others around them.
Musicians – symphony musicians in particular – in some circumstances can get completely wrapped up in this trap. Many elements can factor into this; labor issues, general apathy and malaise, and interpersonal conflicts, among them.
In spinning out these observations, I am of course not including serious emotional or psychological disorders that need medical treatment. That is an entirely different thing (of which I do have some personal experience).
I am not a doctor and do not pretend to speak with authority on medical issues. However I can portend of these cynical, dark waters. I can offer observations and warnings. I can speak to the number of professionals in our field plagued by negativity, apathy and cynicism.
Granted, being a serious and dedicated artist in America is not easy. Jason Heath has noted that music students currently graduating from college have something like a 4% chance of landing a symphony job. Not to mention the fact that classical music groups come and go with alarming regularity across the U.S.
Beyond this, the current popular zeitgeist appears to encourage and breed a false expectation of instant fame and immediate gratification – in our youth, ourselves and in our audiences. Pop culture does not support art forms requiring patience, dedication, thought or introspection.
Some music students graduate with very clear heads about these harsh realities. Others, do not. They buy into the “hot, fast and now” preachings of popular culture – or worse still – their teachers do not tell them of these realities.
What begins then for this class of music students as a starry-eyed, wondrous adventure, quickly devolves into disappointment, anxiety, boredom, or even dread. These feelings can go up and down and back and forth – like a roller coaster. Over time, as these unfortunate, infected individuals advance in their careers (in whatever field) they eventually get beaten down, tired and defeated. And worse, their affliction spreads like a disease to others around them.
This is something that young professionals should be prepared for and that experienced veterans should always be on the lookout for. Left unchecked, negativity, apathy and cynicism steal the joy and wonder from what we propose to love. In the long run, these things are like little demons and they serve only to tear things down – people, places and things.
And ultimately it all leads to self-fulfilling prophecies and dire consequences.
This series of articles – on this and other “N” words – seeks to shed some light on one of the darker aspects of being a professional in classical music.
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