Let’s
start off with three well known facts;
- Almost everybody loves music and poetry. You certainly do, or else why would you be here?
- A tool that can harness the mind without the use of chemicals and drugs is rare and precious.
- Poetry and music are so unique and powerful that we can even use them to treat mental illnesses. This is not a new discovery.
David
used his skill with word and harp to coax King Saul out of his depression and
today we use it as a therapy to alleviate the symptoms of;
- Schizophrenia,
- Anxiety,
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
- Dementia,
- Alzheimer’s,
- Depression,
- Intermittent explosive disorder,
As well as many more.
Sounds and words are so intimately connected with the shape and flow of our
neurological map that it should be regarded as a medicine. With this in mind, why do we not pay more attention to
the things we listen to and the things we say?
Artistic
talent can mend what is broken. When we consider the multitude of functions
that it can perform on the human mind- and what functions the human mind can
perform when it lies under its spell- It is no wonder that we treat it as a
gift from heaven.
Here
are a few ‘gifts from heaven’;
- ‘4 Remarkable Ways Music Can Enhance Athletic Performance’ - by Alejandra "Alex" Ruani, https://thehealthsciencesacademy.org/health-tips/music-can-enhance-athletic-performance/
- ‘Why Reading Poetry Is Good For Your Brain’ – By JR Thorpe, https://www.bustle.com/p/why-reading-poetry-is-good-for-your-brain-51884
- 5 Reasons Why People Who Sing Are Happier, Healthier And Live Longer (Regardless Of How Well They Sing) by Robert Locke, http://www.lifehack.org/293814/5-reasons-why-people-who-sing-are-happier-healthier-and-live-longer-regardless-how-well-they-sing
And my personal
favourite;
- Mind’s Eye Poetry: Rewriting Dementia by Alissa Sauer, https://www.alzheimers.net/3-25-15-minds-eye-poetry-for-dementia/
From the gods
In
her Ted Talk, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the origin of the Spanish word
‘ole!’ (bravo). When a creative performance was so beguiling and masterful, the
crowd would- ‘put their hands together and they would start to chant, 'Allah,
Allah, Allah. God, God, God.'’ Some say
that over the centuries this very exclamation was transmuted into the more
familiar ‘ole!’ used in bullfights and other supremely impressive spectacles.
The power in poetry can likewise help people see God, enamour a nation or
provoke a riot; as in the unfortunate case of Stravinsky’s scandal during 1913.
"Man,
if you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know."
The
‘Devil’s Trill Sonata’ was a masterpiece said to have been taught to the
composer- Giuseppe Tartini- by the Devil himself. He appeared to him and began
to teach him the Sonata that would one day place him in the same category as
the Muse-driven creators of the past. Superstition of the supernatural inspirer went nowhere as the arts developed, such is the mystery that surrounds creative genius.
Rock and Roll, likewise was
considered to be similarly removed from the status quo, taking pride in
harsher, more serious and anti-establishment themes and narratives. It
harnesses the role that Stravinsky took upon himself to disturb, enrage,
petrify or invigorate with the more negative/outraged passions. The era of Rock
and Roll was (and sometimes still is) considered to be an invention of the
Devil rather than a Muse- such was the level of controversy it was able to
invoke. The role of Rock and Roll is to take a ‘hands on approach’ with emotion
at its most raw in order to free the individual.
Jazz seconds this approach to music,
described as a mystically indefinable genre. Louis Armstrong summed up the
essence of Jazz in this way, "Man, if you have to ask what jazz is, you'll
never know." What we do know, is that among the forbidden shacks of a
slave class in New Orleans, music was able to create a pathway for the
oppressed to reclaim their sense of freedom. The
pervasiveness of the arts throughout human history shows that its
invention is nothing short of beneficial, luxurious and downright miraculous!
With all of this in mind, isn't it about time that we started taking singing and writing and speaking a little bit more seriously?
I propose, that as artists we pull our heads together and practice the craft of poetry in earnest. Volunteer, create blogs, write nonsense on Twitter, call someone and see if they won't do it with you. We complain tirelessly about the greedy expense of pharmaceutical companies and fail to realise that while talk is still 'cheap' we can actually put a burning hole in half of the world's problems with speech. There is no excuse not to try when its as free, fun and foolproof as writing a haiku.
With all of this in mind, isn't it about time that we started taking singing and writing and speaking a little bit more seriously?
I propose, that as artists we pull our heads together and practice the craft of poetry in earnest. Volunteer, create blogs, write nonsense on Twitter, call someone and see if they won't do it with you. We complain tirelessly about the greedy expense of pharmaceutical companies and fail to realise that while talk is still 'cheap' we can actually put a burning hole in half of the world's problems with speech. There is no excuse not to try when its as free, fun and foolproof as writing a haiku.
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