We are currently in a space between stories. If there is one word that describes how many of us feel these days, it’s “disoriented.” So much is changing so quickly, the news is full of crises on top of other crises, and many of us feel increasingly disconnected from those around us who carry increasingly polarized political beliefs or worldviews
.What previously worked for us individually and collectively is falling apart. Our usual ways of understanding ourselves and the world aren’t working anymore. Our institutions are crumbling under the barrage of social media and its fire hose of bizarre and contradictory perspectives. To make matters worse, if you go down the rabbit hole of any of these perspectives and you’ll find a mountain of evidence to support each of them.
How are we to make sense of what’s happening in the world? How do we navigate our individual and collective challenges when it’s so difficult to know what’s true? How do we survive when so much of what we depended on is crumbling before our eyes?
The old stories of who we are and what we are here to do are falling apart — and for good reason. Many of the crises we now face are the direct result of the way we have done things. Our economic system incentivizes ecological destruction and political corruption. Our ways of creating incentivize burnout, injuries, and the commodification of our art. In light of the harm our usual way of doing things creates, it’s good it’s coming to an end. But what will replace it?
The truth is that nobody really knows right now. The old story is dying, and the new one hasn’t been fully born yet. We are in the space between stories, and this can be uncomfortable. Many of us are grasping at increasingly extreme measures to assuage our discomfort. But all too often, the new solutions we find on offer are simply the old story in different clothing.
How do we move forward? Let’s take a lesson from music.
Sometimes, when I’m playing with others, I lose a sense of the where the downbeat is — especially when I’m playing something fast and complicated. Things are just coming at me too quickly, I get in my head, I lose the sense of my body, and then the music doesn’t make sense anymore. I’m temporarily lost, adrift in a sea of meaningless noises.
My first impulse is to panic and try harder. I my tense up, narrow my focus, and play more notes in an attempt to hide the fact that I’m lost and to make it seem like I know what I’m doing. This rarely works and actually just confuses the situation more.
What does work is to pause and listen. To reconnect with my body. To establish a new intention. One reason I get lost is because I’m overextending myself in an attempt to cover up for my anxiety at playing lots of fast notes or over chord changes that I’m unfamiliar with. This is a poor intention for playing music and does not align with my larger goals in playing music.
So, I pause and reconnect with my ultimate intention in playing music, which is to contribute to and celebrate life, and to heal, inspire, and connect. In those moments when I lose the beat but I nevertheless pause and remember what my ultimate intention is, I’m able to relax. I listen. And then the music starts to make sense again and I can join it from a place of aliveness, rather than strain.
The same holds true for any of our challenges these days. When that uncertainty hits, our first impulse is to panic, flee our bodies, and try harder. But this only makes things worse.
I believe that what we need now is a period of listening, rather than doing. A period of reconnecting with sensorial reality, rather than getting wrapped up in ideologies. A period of remembering what our ultimate intentions are, rather than relying on our inherited patterns.
Yes, when you are used to doing, doing, doing, taking time to pause and listen can be uncomfortable. You feel like you should be doing something, fixing something. . . anything at all to assuage the anxiety! But this rarely works and will probably just make things worse. Pausing and listening are truly necessary to midwifing something new and more beautiful.
I believe that artists and art lovers have a uniquely powerful role to play in helping us navigate the space between stories. We can be the sanctuary where people come to lay down their burdens and find solace amid the chaos. We can provide inspiration to keep going on when things get tough. We can help those around us remember who we are, deep down, and what we are here to do in this one, precious lifetime. We can provide a vision for the future that works for everyone and every being on this planet.
In a society where the arts are often dismissed as frivolous pastimes, I believe that the arts might be the one thing that can cut through the noise and help us remember who we are and where we’re going. . .
. . .IF we, as artists, successfully navigate the space between stories, ourselves. Our art reflects who we are. We can only be a beacon to those around us if we, ourselves, have found real answers (however impartial).
I have dedicated my life to this process. My first reckoning with it came when I had repetitive strain injuries in both arms related to playing violin in forceful and outdated ways during college. My studies in Alexander Technique, psychology, and spirituality showed me that to be free of pain required stepping into a new story of what music is about for me. No longer a mechanical process of getting the notes right, I realized that music is about getting out of the way of the Soulforce within me.
Over the years, I developed this recognition into a comprehensive, holistic arts pedagogy, which I call the Soulforce Arts Approach, and which I outline in my multi-award-winning book, “Soulforce: How to discover your artistic purpose, create more freely, and make art that matters.”
Through my Soulforce Arts Institute, I now train other musicians to unlock the magic behind their music; to play freely, thrive under pressure, and give performances that move the world.
My mission is to transform music and art pedagogy so that we can train the kinds of artists that the world needs right now. Because the world DOES need us!
I’d love for you to join me in this journey! Please reply to this email if this mission resonates with you and if you’d like to get involved somehow.
-Joseph
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Some Updates
I’ve been doing a lot of pausing and listening over the last few months. Since my book came out, I’ve been working very hard to promote the book and my Soulforce coaching. And while I’ve learned a lot, I can see that some of the ways I’ve been trying to do that are based in the old story, and so don’t align with who I am and what I want do ultimately. Needless to say, they didn’t bring the kind of results I wanted.
I sense that a lot of us are in a similar place, and so I want to start changing what I offer to better serve those of us navigating the space between stories. Here are some of my ideas.
- Monthly or bi-weekly “Soulforce Letters” like the one above. These will be heartfelt explorations of what it means to be an artist in the space between stories.
- Soulforce Hearth Gatherings. These will be free online gatherings where artists can find inspiration, healing, and connection together. I’ll share some of my Soulforce methods or musings and there will be plenty of time to ask questions and get support. More info coming soon. Reply to this email to me know if you want to join.
- Philly Music Medicine. This is a monthly, in-person ritual of inspiration, healing, & connection. Our tagline is: “Music that moves your soul, awakens your heart, and reconnects you to what matters most.” Think of it like music church for the spiritual-but-not-necessarily-religious crowd. I think our first official offering will be in September.
- Still Playing for You. This will be a series of videos I record of violin improvisations in sacred places, from cathedrals of stone to those in forests. “To all who are tired, sacred, and searching: I’m still here. Still playing for you. These violin offerings are prayers in sound, recorded in sacred places where the veil feels thin.”
- Soulforce Companion — AI Chatbot for my book. What if you could speak directly with the spirit of a book? The Soulforce Companion is an interactive AI guide trained on my book Soulforce: How to Discover Your Artistic Purpose, Create More Freely, and Make Art That Matters. It uses ChatGPT so you can talk directly with my book to get guidance and inspiration for your creative life. It’s free! Learn more and try it here.
Other News
- This Sunday 6/22/25 from 10–11AM on Zoom I’ll be teaching an online workshop on “The Magic Pause,” which is a 3-second technique to effectively release muscular tension so you can feel and function better. Great for musicians or those with their shoulders chronically near their ears! $10. RSVP joseph@soulforcearts.com
- My book just won another award! It’s a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards! This is my book’s third award and I’m thrilled to be getting this kind of recognition.
