Music Therapy
medicine for the soul...
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” - Aldous Huxley
Listening to certain music instantly takes me back in time. I am sure you are familiar with the following experience.
You are listening to the radio and then a song starts playing… You are transported back - the lyrics magically appear in your mind and you start to sing along, word for word…
I had that experience this week when I started by asking Alexa to play “soft rock from the 1980’s”. Songs began playing that I hadn’t heard in years and I found myself dancing around the kitchen, as I was making dinner, and singing along.
Later on, I did a little research into what is known as “music therapy” and was pleased to find out all of the positive health benefits music provides.
A fascinating article entitled, “Your Brain on Music”, had a wonderful interactive section that showed how each part of the human brain responds to music. The benefits include boosting your immune system, making you a better communicator, and helping people suffering from brain illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease.
The writers also found that people with dementia respond better to the music they grew up listening to. “If you play someone’s favorite music, different parts of the brain light up,” Sugaya explains. “That means memories associated with music are emotional memories, which never fade out — even in Alzheimer’s patients.”
For me personally, music is also very therapeutic. Songs and their lyrics can help you deal with physical and emotional pain. Music can generate instant joy. It can also remind you of a time in your past that you shared with loved ones or friends.
It can inspire and tell wonderful stories. It can calm a crying baby or soothe a patient in a hospital bed.
Music can be a powerful reminder of our common connections as humans. I was reminded of that this week when I started to listen to an online radio website called Radio Garden.
Radio Garden, https://radio.garden/, is a free app for iPhones and Android devices that brings in tens of thousands of radio stations broadcasting live 24 hours a day from around the world.
The app displays a 3D globe of the world with satellite imagery. As the site explains, “As you rotate the world using your mouse (or finger on a phone) the app tunes in radio stations on the screen. The screen is covered by thousands of little green dots, each representing a different station. A circle on the screen locates one of those dots/stations and begins playing what the station is broadcasting at that moment.”
This week I listened to a station in Paris, France dedicated totally to Dean Martin and I absolutely loved it.
Maybe most importantly I noticed, as I clicked from one place to another, a pattern. No matter the language or the culture, there was a sense of awe that I felt.
Awe not with how different we are as human beings but instead how music brings us together…as individuals, families and friends. It is a common language that I think we can all agree brings out the best in us.
What do you think?
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here’s this week’s:
“Most of my Sundays growing up were spent with my Grandma and Grandpa Bell. I miss both of them so much but especially on Sundays. When I grew up and moved away from home, I usually got a call from Gram on the weekends and what I wouldn't give to be able to have one more call with her.
Tonight as I was taking laundry off the line, I noticed the sun's rays coming through the clouds so beautifully! Whenever I see a sky like this, I somehow feel that Gram is "talking" to me. I quickly ran into the house to grab my phone so I could capture this moment.
One day we will be reunited but for now, I'll take these beautiful skies as a sign that she's still watching over us from above.” ~ Jennifer Malphy
This week’s Smile Video
During a recent performance by The Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, one concertgoer yelled "wow!" The society's president was so touched by the reaction, he decided to track down who it was. Steve Hartman explains.
#believe #stevehartman #smilevideos
What I am reading…
This week I am back into historical fiction and starting to read America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie.
The Amazon summary is as follows: “From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother's death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.
It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father's troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love--with her father's protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William's wife and still be a devoted daughter.
Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.”
You don’t have to be a history buff to love this book. The story is intriguing and engaging. Seeing one of our founding fathers in a much more complex way with all of his human failings along with the genius he also was, makes this a great read.
This Week’s TED Talk - Music Therapy and Mental Health
We listen to music to get pumped up about something, to find personal peace, to sympathize and allow our emotions an outlet. It makes sense that music therapy would help us to heal and thrive in the most difficult times of our lives. Lucia focuses on how music today and throughout history helps mental wellness.
Children’s Corner
Back in 1999, when I was an elementary school librarian, I started a project where I wrote letters (old fashioned, printed letters) to a variety of famous people. This was prior to the daily use of email and text messages. My questions were simple…
1) From your own life experiences, how has reading affected your life in a positive manner?
2) Was there any particular person or experience in your life that made you aware of the value of literature and the importance of reading?
I am going to share these letters and let you experience the joy many of my students (and myself) have gotten from their touching words - Here is this week’s:
Music Moments
During my college days, in the late 1980’s, I absolutely loved listening to Randy Travis. I had all of his albums (and cassette tapes of course!) and traveling from home to college and back again (80 miles round trip) every weekday I had his music playing on my car stereo. Here is one of my favorites:
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….