Generation To Generation Part 2 - The Power Of Joseph Campbell

The Best Things In Life Are Free

When I think back to my childhood, I hear vinyl. Yellow Submarine, The Gambler, and Soolaimon... I hear the Teddy Bear's Picnic by Anne Murray, and Old Blue Eyes singing about how he did it his way. I hear my daddy singing along, and making everything feel like musical theater. And when life is unkind, or confusing, .... or awesome, these are the songs I hear. Strange as that may seem, it is merely a testament to how my love of music was cultivated by my parents from a time before I can even fully remember.

I intend to provide an abundance of culture for my children, both musical and otherwise. I hope to pass on the wisdom of my experience, with openness in general.

Perhaps here in lies the real difference between parents of the distant past and the more modern parenting philosophy. That we should do our best to conceal our true nature from our children, shelter them from the ways of the world, has become a thing of the past. Now, more often than not, parents say they will discuss sex openly with their kids, talk about drugs, discuss the relevance of outside religions, recognize the rest of the world a an extension of our own, and not as a far off land where starving and injustice don't matter. Again, perhaps, I will use music as a vehicle to bridge the gaps before us. Yes, I think so.

Read The Book, Listen To Your Life's Soundtrack, To Your Child, The News..... I Think You Will Agree!

There are many works by Joseph Campbell that a more than worth reading... I have read many and recommend you joining me, however I am giving just this one, "The Power Of Myth" a glowing recommendation right here and now, and for very good reason. 

This interview with Bill Moyers it is the most comprehensive overview of Campbell's opinion that the youth of today need "Myths To Live By" (another wonderful book of his). I have given this book to so many people over the years - hoping to convey a message that is also the point of this blog.

Mr. Campbell, in all his brilliance, discusses how present and future generations have difficulty finding fellowship with antiquated religions. Never undermining their significance, he points out how irrelevant the stories, of the commonly ascribed to faiths of the world, are to the fast forward lives that people live today, and the problems that modern people now contend with. It makes sense to me to think that young people now lack structure in their beliefs and so create their own order in the form of gangs, and cults and, less obviously, in their own psyche. 

As an interesting side note; it is not that commonly known, but George Lucas created Star Wars because he knew Campbell, and agreed that a modern mythology was needed. Enter the 'Force'.

It is my contention that if our future generations need icons, and idols, and words to live by, then we should actively try to find a way to provide them with a foundation. 

Well, what better place to look than in the form of music? If we look to the soundtrack of our lives, there just might be a platform of understanding how we, their role models, became the people that we are. They may see our mistakes, and our misgivings, but they will also see our passion, our style, our battles, and triumphs. Blueprints in melodies, if you will.

Read the book, listen to your life's soundtrack, to our children, to the news.... I think you may too agree!


Read my whole article at http://www.squidoo.com/the-importance-of-passing-on-the-best-music-generation-to-generation