Beyond Words

I recently saw that meme online and literally laughed out loud as I said to myself, “Yep; they should!” This, mere days after I was grocery shopping and surprisingly heard my all-time favorite Bruce Springsteen song play overhead. I sang along as nope, not “Born to Run” or “Born in the USA” played, but “Growin’ Up.” Yeah, not what you expected but boy was I happy to sing along as I loaded my cart.

Music has a way of shaping our thoughts and making our day. It can also literally change lives, which is something I learned from none other than a sweet Hulu movie called “Harmony from the Heart.” In it, “Musical therapist Violet meets handsome doctor Blake while caring for his grandfather. While at first they clash over methods, they soon come to realize that sometimes music is the best medicine of all.” I’ve loved music all my life but I somehow didn’t realize that it can indeed be medicine.

According to “Psychology Today,” Music Therapy is a form of treatment that uses music within a therapeutic relationship to help accomplish a patient’s individualized goals. In the movie I watched, an elderly man was showing signs of aging and had suddenly lost the ability to speak. Enter a darling Music Therapist who convinces his “brilliant” but skeptical surgeon grandson and voila, he speaks!

Not everything has a happy Hallmark ending, but research does show that Music Therapy can help people manage physical pain and can also have powerful and positive effects on psychological health. In fact, it has proven effective in treating health conditions such as cardiac complications, cancer, diabetes, dementia, high blood pressure and heart rates, reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost both memory and cognitive functions.

When it comes to the mind and soul, Music Therapy can also influence one’s mood, boost energy, increase joy and awe, reduce anxiety, alleviate depression, facilitate self-reflection, assist in processing trauma, and can be particularly helpful for people on the autism spectrum. My good friend Judy would likely agree, as she is in a nonprofit group called Love Notes that provides an opportunity for people with memory loss to connect and build community through choral singing. The group is made up of both volunteers, those with memory loss, and their care partners, giving them all a sense of purpose and a glimpse of delight.

But back to grocery shopping.

I’m not alone is enjoying a favorite song or two as I’m shopping. Pleasant music is proven to have a mentally soothing effect on people and actually impacts the way they shop. Favorite, familiar, or soothing in-store music lifts a shopper’s mood, making their decision-making on what items go in their carts more intuitive and sometimes even impulsive.

Research also shows that these happy shoppers have less scrutiny of their purchases, buy more products then perhaps originally planned, and treat themselves to a few indulgences. In fact, in-store music has been shown to increase a shopping bill by more than 10 percent!

The power of music is not only therapy and psychology, but also biology. I remember when a friend’s son did a research project on the effects of different types of music on someone while reading. It wasn’t for a music class; but a biology class. Students today, and even dating back to my Millennial daughter’s school years, study with their ear pods in and their music on. Never have I ever.

All of this is not a new concept however. Humans have long appreciated its healing powers and according to the American Music Therapy Association, modern Music Therapy actually began after World War II. It was then that musicians visited hospitals to perform for veterans who afterward showed signs of both physical and emotional healing. This type of therapy is still practiced in many hospitals today as music can stir emotion, prompt discussion, and heal emotional trauma. Music is processed and produced through a different pathway than verbal skills, allowing patients the ability to express themselves, communicate with others, and experience their world as they experience dementia or brain damage.

Which brings us back to the movie I saw. That’s exactly what happened in the film but if you don’t believe any of this just yet, try remembering the words to a song from way back when and then try to remember what you had for dinner one week ago. Amazing, right?

I’ve always loved music, dating back to the Partridge Family albums I still have and the “Best of Bread” album that I coveted for years. Music is powerful. Music is moving. And music helps you move. I can’t imagine a treadmill workout without it and my friend Michelle’s dancercise class gets us moving and is fun!

So vital is music to me that a highlight of our daughter and my recent trip to London was, yes, all the royal stuff and Wimbledon, but I will forever treasure the joy we experienced seeing Bruce Springsteen live in Hyde Park. Pure. Joy. And, my favorite job ever was that of Publicist at Austin’s Frank Erwin Center. I “had” to work every concert and promote the likes of Cher, U2, George Strait, Bon Jovi, and yes, Springsteen. My dream job? Backup singer in Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefer Band. RIP sailor.

So, sing away and enjoy all the music out there. As Dick Clark famously said, “Music. It’s the soundtrack of your life,” and now we know it’s also life giving and life affirming. That, my friends, is music to my ears. (so is the fact that I just wrote an entire blog on music and didn’t mention TS once! You’re welcome and yay me!)