Music is Universal
Much like laughter is universal, music has been culturally, and socially accepted in all civilizations throughout human history.
From simply clapping hands to create rhythm to the most priceless instrument, the Stradivarius, we all enjoy music.
There is a variety of genres of such as classical, blues, jazz or country, there is music for everyone.
This week we featured the legendary Merle Haggard as growing up in the throes of the great depression and his eventual style of music that no doubt gave him reflection and solace in life.
Research has proven that enjoying music can mitigate the feelings of anxiety, hypertension, and pain as well as ameliorate sleep disorders, mood swings, mental acuity, our ability to remember and ruminate. I will even say that there is a certain element of spirituality connected to music.
How many of us when we go for a jog, work out in the gym take advantage of music for motivation? Or on the other side of the spectrum, we listen to music that tends to commiserate with how we feel in the moment. Music can elate or deflate! Music tends to spur you on because of the dopamine the brain secretes. In fact, it is euphoric!
It is no wonder I found myself playing my favorite instrument while we were sequestered during the pandemic to placate my nervous system, it was therapeutic.
It was interesting to know that Merle grew up without a father leaving the responsibility completely on his mother, and was it enough?
Merle later wrote and sung "Mama Tried," Does that give you an idea?
We discussed his growing up in Kern County of which many of us may be able to relate with his troubled and high-spirited personality that may remind us of ourselves.
Merle grew up in a boxcar that his father bought for $500 in the mid-1930s with payments of $10 per month, truly a story of rags to riches.
But what do we learn from Merle's life?
The human spirit is alive and well in every one of us whether we are aware of it or not. And music can be a catalyst to bringing the spirit of creativity and innovation to the forefront, it can be a cathartic experience like it was for Haggard.
However, you may say I am not musically inclined. That may be true, but we are all Uniquely gifted in one way or another and we just ripen at different periods of time in life. Is not life itself a gift all on to itself?
Some of excel in art in many ways, poetry, or music, however, whatever your gift, if it is coupled with the quality of compassion and love for others, it is of the utmost fulfilling feeling you can have in life.