Here we go again...

Neuroscience.

Music Therapy.

Its is becoming more and more apparent that Neuroscience is not what I am passionate about. I sit in class completely bored by the reductionist descriptions of the brain; unenthused by the clinical explanations of a case study in which fMRI scans showed this and this...

Music Therapy, on the other hand, is exciting and productive. Interacting with people and helping people with their development as human beings with the involvement of music is awe-inspiring. The psychological aspect of it is a science in its own sense, but it also produces immediate effects. Neuroscience pokes and prods just to see neurons fire and sensors light up- where is the joy or music in that?

The Music Therapist who came into my Intro to Music Therapy class today really hit the nail on the head: The neurological research is extremely important for the development of music therapy as a profession and a science, but it would be a shame (not to mention counter-productive) to see music therapy go down a purely clinical road with prescriptions and pills for all our ailments. Music will never be able to be reduced to a pure science- there will always be a powerful mystery behind music that makes it an art... why would I want that to go down the wayside just for the sake of reductionistic scientific pursuits?

Which brings me to Religion. Oh boy. The things that I hold dearest to my heart are simple: music and my spirituality. The path I have set down (Neuroscience) has the potential to make me lose my faith, and quite frankly, I am scared to go down a professional path that simply has no room for spirituality or mystery. Sure, I want to discover things, but I don't want to lose my reverence or my submission to the higher powers in life in the process. So do I continue to pursue a field in which I am constantly reducing things to dirt, or do I explore the possibility of a field that is always looking up and out to the stars and beyond?

It seems my decision is clear. Perhaps I will find a better way to blend the neuroscience in with time in order to have a good balance, but for now: money and status can go to hell, I'm doin what I love!