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"Integrity in Wholeness" - Vijay Gupta
On paper, Vijay would seem to be an interesting guest because he is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a community of musicians creating spaces of connection for people in reentry from homelessness, addiction and incarceration in Los Angeles. Or because Vijay is a famous speaker, who has a TED Talk (Music is Medicine, Music is Sanity) with millions of views and has spoken at places like the Mayo Clinic, US Psychiatric Congress, and the League of American Orchestras. Or maybe, most notably, because he's a talented musician who was a member of the first violin section of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 12 years (and the youngest violinist to join the orchestra) and who has released multiple albums of his own work. Anyone one of those things would make Vijay an interesting guest and rightfully so.
But what I found most interesting about Vijay was how deeply thoughtful he was about life and the human experience, while also having an artistic ability to communicate his thoughts in a way that makes you feel the words as much as hear them. For example, his value of "integrity", which he meant as an ability to live as your whole self in a way that your soul feels safe. As we progressed the discussion, we talked about the impact pain has on our lives and how it often plays this dual role of being the source of our problems but also the source of the answers. It seems the more we can embrace pain and try to understand it, the closer we are to living as our whole selves.
Naturally we spent a good bit of time talking about art and the role it plays in Vijay's life and the world. Interestingly Vijay highlighted how art also seems to play this dual role of being a mirror into who we are but also the lens into how we communicate back out to the world. It was particularly cool to hear about his experience playing music for mentally ill people in Skid Row and the way in which classical music from hundreds of years ago can allow them to access insights about their own pain today. This was a really interesting and insightful conversation and I thank Vijay for sharing his perspective and values.
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By Terry McMullen
5
2323 ratings
On paper, Vijay would seem to be an interesting guest because he is the founder and Artistic Director of Street Symphony, a community of musicians creating spaces of connection for people in reentry from homelessness, addiction and incarceration in Los Angeles. Or because Vijay is a famous speaker, who has a TED Talk (Music is Medicine, Music is Sanity) with millions of views and has spoken at places like the Mayo Clinic, US Psychiatric Congress, and the League of American Orchestras. Or maybe, most notably, because he's a talented musician who was a member of the first violin section of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 12 years (and the youngest violinist to join the orchestra) and who has released multiple albums of his own work. Anyone one of those things would make Vijay an interesting guest and rightfully so.
But what I found most interesting about Vijay was how deeply thoughtful he was about life and the human experience, while also having an artistic ability to communicate his thoughts in a way that makes you feel the words as much as hear them. For example, his value of "integrity", which he meant as an ability to live as your whole self in a way that your soul feels safe. As we progressed the discussion, we talked about the impact pain has on our lives and how it often plays this dual role of being the source of our problems but also the source of the answers. It seems the more we can embrace pain and try to understand it, the closer we are to living as our whole selves.
Naturally we spent a good bit of time talking about art and the role it plays in Vijay's life and the world. Interestingly Vijay highlighted how art also seems to play this dual role of being a mirror into who we are but also the lens into how we communicate back out to the world. It was particularly cool to hear about his experience playing music for mentally ill people in Skid Row and the way in which classical music from hundreds of years ago can allow them to access insights about their own pain today. This was a really interesting and insightful conversation and I thank Vijay for sharing his perspective and values.