Singing Our Way to Well-Becoming

Abstract

Well-being is a state of general “wellness” which can make us lazy in our efforts to improve the world. I have proposed “well-becoming” as a more active, procedural way to conceptualize the quest for well-being. Inspired by a colloquium recently in Finland I wish to explore how we can “well be-love” or do “well be-loving,” in a Barbara Frederickson positive psychology way that enhances our health and happiness as she describes in her book Love 2.0 (2013). I believe that one of the ways that this happens in my classes is through singing short songlets, with call and response routines, which begin as speed dictations that students help each other with and then turn into short conversational routines.

I will be singing with the audience several songlets which basically answer some our most enduring questions in our lives and whose answers give us guidance and hope: How are you? How do you have a good life? How do you succeed? What do you like? What do you love? Who do you love? What should we notice? What is good advice? These can then become call and response short conversation with our students. I will have further documentation about the benefits of singing from a variety of disciplines.