Sing for the Cure

"Sing for the Cure!" said the subject area as I scanned my e-mail inbox.

Hmm, this should be interesting, I thought. We'll get together, we'll sing, we'll collect money somehow, we'll sing some more--hopefully in a place with good acoustics. So much more civilized that jogging to find a cure for breast cancer.

Alas, it's not a group sing-along. It's a concert. Sigh.

I'm tempted to rant a bit. I'm tempted to say that the decline in civilization started when we all stopped doing the creating and paying someone else to do the creating for us. Why make music ourselves, when we've got professionals to do it? Why spread sprawling paint on canvas when we can pay for someone with an M.F.A. to do it the correct way? Why cook, when we can go to a restaurant.

I suppose I shouldn't rant. It's a concert for a good cause. But at least with a Race for the Cure event, there's group involvement, and people have gotten healthier so that they can complete a road race.

I suppose you could make the case that a concert could bring similar benefits, albeit psychological instead of physical, to the listener. We can listen to voices soar and feel uplifted. Voices singing in harmony probably have some sort of psychological bonus.

And in these tough economic times, if we go to a concert, we're supporting artists. I like doing that, as long as I remind myself that I have permission to create art as well.