Synergy

Synergy is not a word I think of often, nor one I usually have occasion to use (see "quotidian" in the "Creative Assignments" section), but it's the word that seems most apt after our handbell choir rehearsal this morning.  Being the music director at a medium-ish-sized church, every week -- every rehearsal, every service -- is a coin toss of who will show up and how well they'll be thinking and feeling the music.  When I first took the job, this drove me nuts; now it just drives me nuts.

For our vocal choir, it's never been that much of an issue, because at most, we're singing three-part music, meaning if I've got twelve people there, I've got -- on average -- four people on a part, and I can work with that.

The problem has always come with our handbell choir.  For those of you who don't know handbells, here's a fifty-word introduction:

You get eleven ringers, each holding a bell in each hand.  Each person has their two notes, and no other person has those notes.  When the time is right, a person rings his or her notes to fit in with the ensemble.  The effect is similar to sitting eleven people at one piano, and assigning each of them two different keys while forbidding them from playing anyone else's notes or letting anyone else play theirs.

Okay, more than fifty words, but you get the gist.

The problem with our choir has been that we've never had all our spots filled.  Imagine a football team playing without a quarterback: they can do something, but they can't do it well, and they're going to have problems.  With empty spots, we could practice, but never to our full potential.

Then today, we got three new ringers, and for the first time in recent memory, I had every spot filled at our handbell rehearsal.  Even though one of the new people had never rung bells before, and even though two of the ringers were under eighteen and hadn't rung in six or seven years, the result was spectacular.  Never before had I really seen synergy first-hand, but today it hit home in spades.

There are many times in our lives -- especially in our creative lives -- where multiple forces need to work together to give us our desired result.  When these forces work together, we get outstanding results; when they oppose, or when there are forces missing, the result is less that desirable.  Part of being a Creative is realizing what forces are at play in our lives and our creative work, and focusing them where they need to be focused.  For me, when I combine my knowledge of music theory, my understanding of how a handbell ensemble operates, some playfulness and inventiveness, motivation, will-power, and drive, I can create a handbell piece and get it sent off for publication (though the latter has almost nothing to do with the creative process, other than that the creative process is a necessary precursor to it).  If even one of those things is missing or off, the result isn't what I want.  (The missing ingredient is frequently motivation or will-power, something I think we all struggle with on a daily basis.)

Look at what you are trying to create in your life, and see if all the necessary forces are coming to bear.  If not, figure out what's missing, and try to bring it in to the equation. 

But if you do have all the forces aligned, then stand back -- the synergy's about to happen!

Oh, and a shout-out to Miranda, Janis, Alex, Jill, Déla, Matthew, Ellen, Lee, Sarah, and Matt -- awesome rehearsal today, guys!