Resistance is Futile…

May 4th, 2009 . Posted in Arts & the Environment | No Comments »
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There has been an uproar about the recent alligator attacks here in Florida. Of course, we all know it is not the normal behavior pattern for alligators to attack humans. However, as we continue to encroach upon their habitat in more and more devastating ways, many animals are starting to exhibit unusual behavior patterns.

Last year, a female bald eagle was hit by a car on NW 39th Avenue as she flew off with a piece of roadkill. Flying into traffic to eat something dead isn’t really normal behavior for an eagle either. But I’m sure that, from the air, everything looks pretty different when your former hunting ground, the forest, has been suddenly turned into a parking lot.

This happened about a month after the deforestation of 39th Avenue (between 13th and 34th streets) began. In one year, three forests were bulldozed, one of them completely razed in about two days. The first development of pastel condos was not built as it was originally presented, and is completely out of character with any building project north of Orlando. The second development has had a variety of troubles with its retention pond, creating drainage issues for the entire area.

Unless we can slow down this influx of thoughtless overbuilding, it seems pretty unlikely that Gainesville will remain a Tree City for much longer. Like the rest of Florida, our remaining forests and open areas are being destroyed and developed without any consideration of aesthetic continuity, code compliance, or long term consequences.

The latest development  along the 39th Avenue corridor mentioned above was built right on top of the wetland that feeds into Forest of the Unicorn’s natural pond. This fact was pointed out by city environmental engineers when the project was first brought up. But somehow the development was granted the go-ahead. Unfortunately, the earliest residents of an area, in this case turtles, snakes, great blue heron, ibises, and other wading birds, may not always have a deed to the property—even when they were there first.

In the early days of this project, there was a lot of delay. After a rain, my husband and I went over to look at the site for this upscale development. We couldn’t even walk on it. This site was completely covered with water. Somehow they finally managed to build homes on this spot without them sinking into the ground. However, I have to wonder what will happen to these homeowners when their yards and perhaps their houses become waterlogged.

Even an alligator could get confused.

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A Story and Song…How I Got Started

February 12th, 2009 . Posted in How I got started | No Comments »

As is the case with many of my most valuable experiences of my life, I was dragged into Shands Arts in Medicine (AIM) at the University of Florida, kicking and screaming. If you had told me thirteen years ago that I would be playing music in the hospital on a regular basis, I would have said “No way!”  Hospitals have never appealed to me. In fact, I tend to faint when I get my blood drawn. But I was intrigued by the AIM program, where I live, in Gainesville. As soon as I heard about it, long before becoming an artist in residence, I knew these were good people, doing a great thing.

I remember playing at a restaurant twenty-something years ago. I was doing dinner music, and I had my little baby boy with me in an infant carrier seat up on the bar. A woman came up to me at the end of the set and she had tears in her eyes. “Your music made me feel so much better,” she told me. “I’m staying at Ronald McDonald House and my son has to get a bone marrow transplant.” At the time I had no idea what she was even talking about. But I knew it was no ordinary encounter. Actually, it was a preview of things to come. I now play on the bone marrow transplant unit once a week.

with Wendy Kissinger and BMTU patient

with Wendy Kissinger and BMTU patient

BUT–it wasn’t always easy! It took me two years of roaming around the fringes of AIM and telling other people what great work they did, before I finally got the courage to walk through that door myself.  One of the artists, Peg, finally talked me into coming onto a unit to do some concerts in the evening. I started out on the pediatric oncology unit, bringing my friend and musical partner Janet to play a concert with me in the family room/gathering area. She would bring her banjo, and I would play guitar.

Peg was roaming around the unit gathering patients to come into the family room where Janet and I were setting up to play. She reported back that one little girl she was hoping to bring had been too sick to come, but her sister was at the concert. As we began playing, the girl’s eyes got wide and her face lit up. She grabbed Peg by the hand and said “We’ve GOT to go get Sissy! She needs to hear this!” They left the room and Peg accompanied her to her sister’s room, where they and the Mom coaxed the little sister into a wagon and started pulling her down the hall. She moaned and fretted, still in pain.

But her sister kept encouraging her.

“Hear the music, Sissy?” she cooed. “Listen to the banjo!”

And as she got closer to the music she began to sit up straighter. As the sounds of the banjo rang out into the hall, she began to smile and sway. By the time she got into the room she was bobbing and dancing in the wagon! Her pain, at least for the time being, was forgotten. She and her sister and mom stayed and enjoyed the music, and the evening turned into a birthday celebration for Peg, which became even more festive as it turned out that one of the patients was having a birthday too.

There’s nothing quite like a group of kids in hospital gowns dancing with their IV poles and singing Happy Birthday, accompanied by the banjo.

And that’s how it all started for me.

*******

I feel truly blessed to be able to play music for people in this kind of setting, where the effect it has is so positive and immediate. I’m sure many of you have experienced the power of gratitude. There’s a song I wrote that helps me remember to be grateful every day. If you’d like to hear it, click the following link:

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/925270

Happy Thanks Giving!

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Music is the Gift that Keeps on Giving…

December 18th, 2008 . Posted in Music & Arts in Healing | 1 Comment »
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During this season of busyness, it’s easy to get stressed out,  aggravated and even exhausted - especially for a musician!  For me this time of year is packed to the brim with concerts and events that I’m musically responsible for: at church, the hospital, and other places in the community. It can be overwhelming. This year is particularly frustrating for me because I’ve been dealing with a condition called “trigger thumb” - which actually came from playing a musical instrument! It’s a repetitive movement syndrome, and I was playing the same instrument continuously for an unusually long period of time during a week-long residency, back in August.

But though it’s been difficult for me to adjust, at the same time it makes me aware of what a gift it is to be able to do this at all, let alone do it for a living. And even if my playing is not quite up to par, the music still has the same magical effect on people.  One example: Arts in Medicine’s annual AIM for the Holidays concert in December.

This is an annual event we present in the lobby at Shands hospital, bringing in folks from the community to help us celebrate the holidays with music.  Some of the same performers have been coming for years…The Gainesville Flute Ensemble washes over everyone with a lovely sound as flutes of different registers play beautiful arrangements of Christmas carols. Reb Shaya Isenberg often comes to relay a Chanukah message and this time he was accompanied by a renowned New York musician, Reb Shefa Gold.

The day started with a performance of 40 elementary school children from Jordan Glen singing Christmas songs under the direction of music teacher Jolene Jones. Energetic yet somehow angelic, they had a great time singing and playing their recorders, and were a big hit. They were followed by the jazzy holiday strains of Bella Luna, with Ron Shorr on guitar, David Cook on piano, Laurie Jennings on drums and Annie McPherson on vocals and bass. It was great for Jolene and Annie, who are also in a band together (Patchwork), to get to see and hear each other in this setting. At the end of the set, the next singer, a young woman named Jamie Kramer with a beautiful operatic voice, asked David to play piano for her and they did a lovely rendition of I Wonder as I Wander. Then as Jamie continued to sing, our Arts in Medicine volunteers–Adrienne, SunYoung, and Will Kang– provided accompaniment on flute, violin, and percussion.

Guitarist Robert Roberg showed up next–in an angel costume complete with gigantic white wings! While he was getting ready the volunteer ensemble and I filled the time, and then accompanied him during his performance, along with Jamie. Then two of my musical worlds joined together in a new way, as my church choir, Voices of Unity, sang Dona Nobis Pacem, and  Minister Marciah McCartney presented Arts in Medicine with a check from a fund raiser they held on AIM’s behalf back in November!   Afterwards Shaya read a wonderful story, The Chanuka Guest, and Shefa accompanied him with chanting and an unusual little drone-like instrument, called, I believe, a “shruti.”  By now the Flute Ensemble was starting to set up, and they really enjoyed hearing this.

Watching everything unfold, I loved the way each thing flowed into the next and people who hadn’t met before played and sang together for the first time. But then, it’s always like that at the hospital. The piano–a grant/gift from Childrens Miracle Network when I started there over twelve years ago–serves as a focal point where music can work its magic, creating community. And I am very grateful to be in on it.

I hope your holiday is blessed with both music AND magic.  If you can find the time, come visit me at my new websites listed below. I’m really excited about something called “widgets” that my friend Kiki from dancingLight first told me about! And remember you can go to my online stores at www.cathydewitt.com or www.patchwork.us any time to look, listen, and shop. You’ll find a variety of CDs there for your jazz loving friends (Autumn in New York and Love Notes), bluegrass lovin’ folkies (Patchwork Rides Again and Live! in Concert), and those in need of a spiritual lift or inspiration (Dreamsong). It’s easy and fun, and a way to help us get our music out into the world.

Thanks for your support, and for being part of my community–

Cathy

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Healing music in Hawaii & hospital

July 19th, 2008 . Posted in Arts & the Environment, Music & Arts in Healing | No Comments »

Rob and I just got back from Hawaii, where we had a wonderful time snorkeling the seas, driving the circumference of the islands, and hiking in the volcanoes! I got to visit the Unity Church of Hawaii, in Honolulu, kind of a famous Unity church with Rev. Sky St. John, where Faith Rivera had performed just a few weeks before. Then on the Big Island I did the morning service–a talk/demonstration of music and healing–for a Religious Science church outside of Kona. We stayed with my friends in Kona who are musicians and Krishnas–Bernice Roberto is a harpist from the islands and husband Manuel is a flutist from Spain, and they play at Krishna gatherings and other events throughout the world.

In Volcano we stayed at a wonderful romantic rainforest retreat recommended to us by Howard Shapiro, whom I met just a month ago or so through Positive Music Association email conversations! We had a great visit with Howard, too–went to his place and saw lots of photos of the wonderful work he’s done all through the Islands. I think he is embarking on a new recording project soon.

After a glorious 2 weeks of Aloha spirit, it was back to work at the hospital here at the University of Florida, where I’m lucky to be able to play music for people in all kinds of situations. Though I get to do many things and play lots of instruments, my main focus is on the power of song. A favorite song can completely alter the mood of a person– or an entire room– in


seconds, often bringing back a vivid memory and creating an instant sense of community as people join together to sing, dance, or play along. In the 14 years I’ve been working with Shands Arts in Medicine at UF, certain songs have proved to be instant winners in nearly every case. One of the most recognizable songs of all time is the Temptations’ hit, “My Girl.” As soon as you play the opening riff of six notes (generally twice), people usually start singing along right away. My volunteers Allie and Will provided great back-up singing and dance-steps for an impromptu rendition during our concert on Friday.
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The Greening of Music

May 12th, 2008 . Posted in Arts & the Environment | 1 Comment »

Lately we’ve been “going green” with music in some exciting new projects. Steve Robitaille’s “Natural Florida”, an educational CD-rom funded by the Humanities Council and the Florida Defenders of the Environment, has just been released after six years of preparation! The product, which features 500 examples of artists using their art (music, photography, literature, etc.) to exemplify and help preserve and protect Florida’s natural environment, will be sent to schools, museums, and libraries throughout the state of Florida. As Music Editor for this project, I compiled original music from 30 Florida musicians to be featured on this CD-rom. Check it out at www.fladefenders.org/naturalflorida. If you’re a teacher, you can get a copy for free!

In addition to that, several live “jubilees” featuring artists from the CD will be held throughout the various bioregions as categorized on the CD-rom, in Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, the Florida Keys, and other areas in 2008-2009. Patchwork has already performed at “preview” events in our area, and Janet Rucker’s song “More Water”, while too new to have been on the original compilation, is being sung and played as a companion to Cynthia Barnett’s popular new book “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Waters of the U.S. East Coast.” At the same time, visual artists like Eleanor Blair and Sue Johnson demonstrate their landscape painting, and photographer John Moran shows a presentation of his work in the wilds and woods of Florida.

The song “More Water” will soon be available as a download from Patchwork’s website as well as the Florida Defenders of the Environment website (see above link).

Another really cool project which I’m very proud to be a part of is Florida’s Eden’s Heart of Florida Scenic Trail guidebook with accompanying CD. This beautiful book, created by watercolor artist Annie Pais and graphics genius Stewart Thomas, entices people–through the use of pictures, stories and songs–to get off of the major highways and travel at a much slower pace, along the back roads of north central Florida. Here they can visit places like Micanopy, Melrose, Evinston, Paynes Prairie, and even go back in time to meet people like Marjorie and Archie Carr, Zora Neale Hurston and the legendary Indian Chief Vitachuko. Natural sounds, radio interviews from the archives of Classic 89, and original Florida music provide the soundtrack to this journey under the live oak canopies. To find out how to obtain a copy of this fascinating product, visit FloridasEden.

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Bedside Singalong

November 26th, 2007 . Posted in Music & Arts in Healing, Stories from the Field | 2 Comments »

Some days you go in and you’re really in the flow. And the things that you expected to happen don’t happen, but the most amazing things happen that you didn’t expect.

I was doing referrals, and met a woman on the elevator who saw my keyboard and told me that her husband, a patient, plays. I asked if she would like me to go see him and she said yes. So I went up to his room, but there was nobody there; the nurse said he was out getting a test. I went around the corner and saw two people in a room looking very interested in the keyboard. The woman was the patient, and her husband was standing around, trying to make her comfortable or do something for her, looking very agitated. I asked if she’d like to hear a song and she said, “Yes, I love music.”

I came in with the keyboard and asked, “What kind of music do you like?” and she said, “You know, Jimmy Buffet, 60’s rock and folk, stuff like that.”

I started playing a folk song and they started singing with me. Actually, they sounded quite good (especially considering she had a breathing apparatus) and I told them so. Then they told me they had sung together for years, they were both in bands and had played a lot in Miami, where she grew up. After we sang a few more I said, “You asked for Jimmy Buffet, so I’ll do my favorite one,” and started playing it just as she said, “Do you know ‘A Pirate Looks at Forty’? (That was it, of course)

Then he mentioned Dan Fogelberg and I said, “I used to have that LP; there was one song I kind of remember…” I started singing, “There’s a light in the midst of your darkness…let it shine…There’s a song in the heart of a woman….set it free” …beautiful words, and they joined in. We were all singing and crying. I could see that it was very meaningful for them to be singing together, something they probably never expected to be doing in her hospital room.

When I left the doctor was coming in to get her to do her breathing exercises and I said “She should be warmed up now; she’s been singing” and he said, “Oh, that’s great! You probably don’t even need this now.”

Then I went back by the other patient’s room; he had just come back so I left the keyboard with him. On my way home later, I was walking out the hospital door when his wife came up to me and said, “Oh, thank you so much, he’s really enjoying that!”

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Creativity as a career: Keeping the balance

November 26th, 2007 . Posted in How I got started, Music & Arts in Healing | 7 Comments »

I am so lucky to have this piece written about me by Robin Rice in her Spotlight on the ChangeMakers feature. Her web site is www.bewhoyouare.com and she has lots of information about her work. You can subscribe to her Be Who You Are e-zine. Her interview with me follows:

Robin: You’ve been really creative in getting your music to the people who really need it. Tell me about how that came about and how you are currently meeting the need.

Cathy: Even back when I was playing in bars and restaurants, I felt a sense of responsibility; I noticed that music could really make a difference in how people felt. But I never expected to end up playing in a hospital setting. I’ve always been the kind of person who faints when they prick your finger to draw your blood!

When I heard about the Arts in Medicine program here at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, I thought it was great and kept telling other people about it. Meanwhile the artists in the program kept saying, “YOU come play and be one of us.”

Finally I did, starting with putting together an evening concert series for children on the pediatric oncology unit. Then I wrote a proposal to get a grand piano in the lobby and started bringing in piano players. Now we have piano music every day, several concerts a week in settings that include chemo/infusion centers and dialysis units, and I train volunteers and students who shadow me when I do music at the bedside. I play at both Shands hospitals in Gainesville, travel to hospitals and hospices around the country, and also play for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia as part of a program I’m involved in called Arts & Aging.

Robin: I can only imagine how appreciative the patients are for this. But I also wonder…how has it affected the organizations themselves? How does it affect, say, the doctors, or administrators?

Cathy: Well, interestingly, our program was actually started by a doctor (John Graham-Pole) who’s also a poet, and a nurse (Mary Rockwood Lane) who’s also an artist. So, we did have some good champions right away.

Initially, though, we kind of came in under the radar with just a couple of local artists working on a specific projects. Now that we’ve been doing this for fifteen years, we are an actual department with an office, a phone line, a program coordinator, etc. We get referrals from doctors and social workers; cheers and requests from the nurses when we enter a unit; and maintenance, security and nursing staff who often join us in singing and dancing! You can find out more at www.shands.org/aim/

Robin: What would you say to others wanting to take their art form and create a place for it? What obstacles have you had to overcome, and where did you find strength?

Cathy: I think that initially you decide what your priorities are. What do you do that brings you the most joy, and also brings joy to others? At first it seems like it’s a choice between having the freedom to do what you care about, or making money at a real job. I always felt like freedom was more important to me than money–even though, of course, they are often closely related. But it seems like the more you get in touch with really focusing on what you’re meant to do, what your talents and gifts are and how best to share them, it becomes more like that old adage, “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

It’s kind of a Unity thing; I play at Unity churches and do a lot of New Thought music, and the Unity philosophy of positive affirmation and stepping forward in faith has certainly helped me pursue my path. Their attitude of gratitude is another aspect of Unity that I have found to be very powerful. It’s that the more we remember to be grateful for what we already have, the more good seems to come our way. I find it extraordinarily powerful just to say, chant or sing my gratitude every day.

Robin: Does making your living while “doing your art” ever get tricky?

Cathy: You have to deal with the business aspects of it without losing your passion for it. That’s a delicate balance. Something someone said that really helped me recently was this:

“Remember, EVERY encounter is an opportunity to touch someone or change their life in a meaningful way.” So I try to bring that into my art and keep that in mind whenever I’m singing or playing, whatever the situation.


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The “art part” of the brain is different…

May 19th, 2007 . Posted in Alzheimers & dementia | No Comments »

In his biweekly online newsletter, The Painters Keys, artist Robert Genn made some interesting points about the relationship between art and the aging brain. Here’s an excerpt. For more you can go to the link at the bottom of this post.

Creativity and the onset of dementia have recently prompted a
great deal of study and speculation. Dr. Luis Fornazzari of the
Memory Clinic at the Division of Neurology, St. Michael’s
Hospital, University of Toronto, in a paper published on
Tuesday, stated, “Art should be understood as a cognitive
function with its own neural networks.” His findings include
the discovery that painters, musicians and writers who develop
brain disorders may continue to be competent in their art for
some time after losing other faculties. Our main brain, it
seems, is vulnerable to attack just as a computer hard drive is
to viruses, while our art brain is like an outboard memory
card–somewhat protected or at least delayed in its potential
corruption.

The main characteristic of all artists seems to be that skills,
techniques and methodologies need to be well learned or
self-taught. In other words, ingrained skills persist and can
be the last to go.

All this is based on new understandings of Brain Reserve
Capacity–neuroscientists call it “BRC.” The building of extra
capacity, which largely happens in the early and middle years,
is a clear catalyst to a longer, more contributive, and more
fulfilling life. Many researchers such as Konrad Mauer and
Bruce Miller are now suggesting that there is a “tremendous
potential for preservation of brain functions induced by the
visual arts.” That being said, other effective methods that
build BRC are education, occupational attainment, bilingualism,
physical activity, proper diet, absence of addictive drugs
including alcohol and tobacco, and social networking.

By Robert Genn, www.thepainterskeys.com

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Alzheimers & arts

April 24th, 2007 . Posted in Alzheimers & dementia | No Comments »

Music brings dramatic results to patients who have Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other memory disorders. Patients who have not spoken a coherent sentence in weeks (according to the staff) may be able to sing along with entire songs. Patients who have a flat affect and sit slumped in their wheelchairs become animated and start moving. And sometimes, singing these songs actually triggers something in the mind that makes it suddenly possible for the patient to remember and speak of a past experience.

Oliver Sacks, noted author and expert neurologist, explains: a stroke or dementia can cause aphasia, the inability to use or comprehend words. But the ability to sing words is rarely affected, even if an aphasic cannot speak them. Being reminded in this way of words and grammatical constructions they have forgotten may help them start to regain old neural pathways for accessing language. Music then becomes a crucial first step in a sequence followed by spontaneous improvement and speech therapy.

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Music and healing

April 18th, 2007 . Posted in Music & Arts in Healing | No Comments »

As the Musician in Residence for Shands Arts in Medicine program in Gainesville, Florida, for over ten years, I have seen and experienced the healing power of music in just about every kind of hospital setting. From the waiting room to the bedside, from the O.R to the E.R., from pediatrics to geriatrics, from an auditorium full of caregivers to a small family holding vigil for their loved one, music has proved to be an amazingly effective, accessible and immediate tool for healing.

Just one song can completely alter a patient’s mood. Countless times I’ve had the nurse step into the room and say, “Look at the improvement in those vitals!” after singing a song with the patient. I’ve had a child who was curled up in pain start strumming the small harp I held in front of him, then sit up and continue strumming wordlessly for ten minutes, eyes shining, his pain forgotten. I’ve had families visiting separate patients who were roommates, with the curtain closed between them, open the curtain to join together in song, and continue singing after I left the room.

Music touches people deeply and quickly, sometimes causing an emotional reaction — tears or a smile — within just a few seconds. It’s one of the most accessible, accepted, and powerful tools for transformation in the healthcare setting.

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