The Rhythm of Life

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The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

Prelude

The Rhythm of Life is a methodology based on Collective Narrative Practices


that uses the musical instruments as its major metaphor. The origins of this
approach can be traced looking back to the history of my life, and also, to some
special persons I had the great opportunity to meet.

Concerning my family background, on my father’s side, my relatives live in


several different countries in Europe and America. Every time we get together
we have to deal with some speaking and cultural aspects. That’s why I’ve
learned since an early age, that even speaking different language, we are able
to communicate and we are all part of a big family.

With my mother’s side of the family, I’ve learned how to care. And, also, I’ve
learned the power of music. My grandfather was a doctor and, besides that, he
used to play several musical instruments – he even (believe it or not) played
songs on leaves from the trees. So I came to learn that everything in life can
become a nice tune - and, above all, that music can cure.

According to the Rhythms of Life we are different musical instruments playing,


each one of us, our own music. But, when we get together, we may form a
beautiful orchestra.

I also acknowledge Michael White’s contribution. I had the opportunity of


meeting him in 2005, in a workshop in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. In that workshop
I learned about the Narrative Therapy – and that has perfected my professional
perspective in life.

In 2009 David Denborough and Cheryl White came to Vitória (ES), Brazil, for a
workshop – their first workshop in Brazil! On that occasion, they presented the
Team of Life as well as the Tree of Life methodology. I began using both
methodologies in my work with individuals (clinical work) and with groups
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

(rehabilitation and third age group). The results of every one of these
experiences are always invigorating.

It’s well known that Brazilians love football and are concerned about the
environment. That’s probably one of the explanations why the Team of Life and
the Tree of Life methodology have great acceptance among the groups I have
worked with. So, I decided to focus on another subject: Brazilians love music. It
all began with samba (actually with carnival), but then I realized that carnival
has so many different aspects depending on the place and the people involved
that it would be better to focus on what they have in common: the samba. And
then, I thought about the instruments: drums, tambourines, plates, agogos…
That’s when I realized that music is a global language and I could think about as
many instruments as the human race has created. That’s how the Rhythm of
Life got started.

I hope this methodology is an instrument that will help other narrative


practioners to develop their work in helping people to respond to the dilemmas
they are facing in life. It also can help people to reinvigorate folk culture through
music.

Andante

Basic aims: To allow individuals to build a safe identity territory and to reconnect
with their own abilities, values, histories in a way that they can feel their lives
are in their own hands again.

Participants: the metaphor ‘Rhythm of Life’ can be easily understood by people


of different ages and from distinct social classes and levels of instruction.
Therefore, this methodology can be used in a great variety of groups. It’s
important that people in the group have a common issue: some problem they
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

need to overcome, some difficulty they have been facing, some kind of event
they all have been through, among other possibilities.

Number of participants: The Rhythm of Life was planned to be used in groups


from 10 to 15 participants. But, it can also be used in smaller groups or even
with individuals. If the group is too large, it’s better to split it into small groups
and have a tutor to help. This is due to the fact that in some steps of this
methodology participants are asked to talk about their histories and memories.
If the group is too large, cross-talk and side-conversation can hinder the
process.

Steps:

1) My instrument
2) My interpretation
3) The Orchestra of Life
4) Getting attuned
5) Our song

Each one of these steps will be presented further below.

Hourly Load: The Rhythm of Life was created to be applied in an eight-hour


activity, divided as follows:

- Step # 1 (03 hours) – this is a particular moment when the participants get in
touch with their own history and, also, with their precious memories. They are
asked to talk about these events. This sharing moment helps everyone in the
group to reconnect with their own lives. Therefore, it takes longer to go through
this step.

- Step # 2 (1h30) – it can be taken as a transition between individual and


collective moments.
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller
üller (05/12/11)

- Step # 3 & 4 (1h30) – that’s the time to focus the group and, also, to relate the
metaphor of the instruments playing in an orchestra to life itself.

- Step # 5 (02 hours) – that’s the time when the group has to create their own
music and rehearse this song.

Sometimes the group needs more time to finish this activity.. And also, some
s
groups prefer to present the song to a specific audience. In these cases,
another date can be set for the presentation and the recording.

It’s important to have the music recorded so that it can be shared with others
other
that are facing similar problems.

Intermezzo

Let me introduce you to the


t Rhythm of Life methodology. It is a five-step
process:
1) My instrument
2) My interpretation
3) The Orchestra of Life
L
4) Getting attuned
5) Our song

1) MY INSTRUMENT

The first thing they are asked to do is to


think about an instrument they like and then
to draw it on a piece of paper – right in the
middle of the page –,, leaving room on the
top and on the bottom for further steps.
steps
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller
üller (05/12/11)

There’s no
o need to be an instrument the person knows how to play – it’s
important to be one that the participant likes (because of its sound, or its shape,
or its relevance in
n the person’s life…).

Then, we focus on some aspects of this drawing.

The stage:: Right under the instrument the person draws a line, meaning the
stage: the place where the person is playing this instrument. It means present
life. Questions about the person’s present life, regular
re activities, and roles that
the participant plays in life may help.. (It’s very similar to the ground on the Tree
of Life methodology).

The instrument:: It can be split in two parts – the Sounding Board and its
Vibration. Every musical instrument has both parts: the one that produces the
sound and the one that resonates it.

- The sounding board:


board The person is asked to write all around the
instrument the precious memories of his/her life that give him/her
strength. It may include the place where the person was born, special
moments on the participant’s childhood, significant persons, particular
songs, places the person has been to, and many other memories that
each one holdss precious and that give them strength.
- The vibration:: it’s about what makes the instrument have this specific
sound (violins sounds
differently from flute, and
from cello, and so on…).
We ask the person to write
inside the instrument his/her
values, abilities,
lities, skills, and
everything else that is
important in the person’s
life. Things that the
participant would never
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller
üller (05/12/11)

leave behind; what


what makes he/she to be unique in a world of 7 billion
people.

The sound waves: They


hey are represented by waves coming from the instrument
to the edge, just like musical waves. These waves represent the person’s
dreams and hopes. It’s an answer to the question: “Where do I want my music
to get?”. The person writes down these answers on these
hese waves.

The audience:: At the bottom of the drawing,


drawing the person is required to write
down the names of the ones that he/she would like to be there listening to the
music that the participant is playing.
playing. “Who do I want to listen to the music of my
life?”.

2) MY INTERPRETATION

After this individual drawing, each person


shares his/her production with the group. At
this moment, I ask them what music they’ve
been playing and how the audience is
reacting.

Then, participants placce their instruments


either
her on the floor or on the wall.
wall In so doing
we have the Orchestra of Life in front of us.
That’s what Paulo Freire1 used to call “the invention of unity in diversity” (Freire,
1994).

1
Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of what’s known as critical pedagogy.
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller
üller (05/12/11)

3) THE ORCHESTRA OF LIFE


LIF

Having all the instruments put together shows a wide range of possibilities that
might emerge from the group.

And the idea of playing


together in an Orchestra
sounds very different from
playing by yo
ourself. When
you’re by yourself you can do
things in a different
differe way (in
your own way). But when we’re
‘playing’ together, things can
get a bit more defying.

There are many points that can be brought up: in which ways each instrument
can get attuned with the others, what’s the importance to the whole orchestra to
be playing in the same rhythm,
rhythm, how to coordinate personal discipline in training
(one can play 8 hours a day but the other one only plays twice a week – how
can they manage to play together?)

Some questions at this point are: “How to get attuned?”; “What


What music can we
play together?”.

At this point, there might be no difference between the metaphor and life itself:
being an orchestra and being a group dealing with some difficulties is almost
the same.

4) GETTING ATTUNED

There are many challenges an orchestra has to deal with. And getting attuned
att
might include some aspects.
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

First, the responsibility.

It’s important for us to understand our own responsibility inside the group. Not
the responsibility as ‘being blamed for’, but as ‘the ability to respond to’ (what I
call the response-ability).

Michael White was always aware of the questions raised by Foucault in relation
to “practices of power”. This awareness surfaces in the techniques of the
narrative therapy which try to separate the person from his/her problem as well
as to give this person voice.

This means, for example, to help people notice they are not to blame for the
situations they face (or have faced) in life nor are they victims. They are people
who have passed through difficult situations and who have managed, somehow,
to give these challenges an answer. Thus, the focus is not the problem, but the
person.

Taking some time to think about the characteristics and the history of this
person’s life, trying to rescue the roots of his/her capacity to act is what I call
“response-ability”: the ability to respond to life’s dilemmas.

We are all, in a very peculiar measure, “response-able”: we have competence,


values, skills, knowledge, beliefs, and principles that help us to weather the
weather and overcome our difficulties. And so we become “response-able”
along our lives. Our “response-ability” has a history which, after being outlined,
reveals our potential.

Some questions that could be made at this point are:

- How does your instrument get along with the others? What abilities do
you have that are unique in this orchestra?
- How do all these instruments play together? What are the difficulties
faced by an orchestra? What are the ways for an orchestra to
respond to these challenges?
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

- What are the difficulties that we face in life? And how do we respond
to it both as an individual and as a community.
- How did you learn to respond in this way? Is this way of responding
linked to your family, community or culture? If so, in which ways?

Second, I also use a play on Portuguese words. I’ll try to relate to English!

A Symptom is often considered a sign that something is not going well. We


may consider the symptom as being “out of tune”: the members of the group, or
the family members, are playing their instruments; however, they cannot play “in
tune”. As a matter of fact, their interaction is often taken as noise, rather than
music.

As soon as the members of such group are able to get attuned and, eventually,
in synchrony, they may play music. And, as they learn to play together the
great variety of songs in life, they will be able to play awesome symphonies.

In so doing, they move from the symptom (being out of tune) to synchrony
(the ability to play together). And by practicing synchrony they get to
symphony (the ability to play beautiful songs together).

5) OUR SONG

That’s when the group has the chance to contribute to the lives of others who
are facing similar problems. Usually the group writes the lyrics and plays a song
sharing what they’ve learned about their own skills, abilities, values, hopes,
dreams, and ‘response-ability’. Then this contribution is shared with other
groups and we keep on waiting for the answer to come.
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

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If the group/person does not want to write their own song, they can choose a
song that represents them. They can also change the lyrics of a song they know
and play their personal version of it.

There are many possibilities. All of them are unique – and, therefore, special.
Each group will find out which one is the best for them. Choosing their own way
to share what they have learned makes all the difference. Let’s sing along!

Finale

These are the steps of this methodology. The music metaphor can be well
understood in every culture. That’s what makes this methodology easy to be put
into practice all over the world. It also can be used both with individuals and
community work, with no need to modify it.

It is based on Narrative Theory and Narrative Practices2. The key themes that
are included in the Rhythm of Life are: responding to social issues through a
methodology that focus on strengthening the alternative story, re-membering
significant people and honoring them, helping people to understand that their
lives are connected and that one’s story can contribute to someone else’s story,
and sharing all this knowledge through collective documentation (White, 1991,
2007; Drewery & Winsdale, 1997; Monk, 1997; Epston, 1998; Denborough,
2008; Newman, 2008; Madigan, 2011).

I hope every one of us can make the music play and, in so doing, we can all be
attuned to the Rhythm of Life. Let’s get in sync to make this world a better
place!

2
For more information about these ideas, please contact Dulwich Centre (www.dulwichcentre.com.au)
The Rhythm of Life Adriana Müller (05/12/11)

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References:

Denborough, D. (2008). Collective Narrative Practice: responding to individuals,


groups, and communities who have experienced trauma. Adelaide, South
Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.

Drewery, W. & Winsdale, J. (1997). The theoretical story of narrative therapy.


In: G. MONK (Org.). Narrative therapy in practice: the archaeology of hope (pp.
32-51). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Epston, D. (1998). ‘Catching up’ with David Epston: a collection of Narrative


Practice-based Papers published between 1991 and 1996. Adelaide, South
Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.

Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the oppressed. New


York: Continuum.

Madigan, S. (2011). Narrative therapy. Washington, DC: American


Psychological Association.

Monk, G. (1997). How narrative therapy works. In: G. Monk (Org.). Narrative
therapy in practice: the archaeology of hope (pp.3-31). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.

Newman, D. (2008). Rescuing the said from the saying of it: living
documentation in narrative therapy. The International Journal of Narrative
Therapy and Community Work, (3), 24-34.

White, M. (1991). Deconstruction and therapy. In: Epston, D. & White, M.,
Experience, contradiction, narrative and imagination: Selected papers of David
Epston and Michael White, 1989-1991 (pp. 109-151). Adelaide, South Australia:
Dulwich Centre Publications.

White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. New York, NY: Norton.

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