Music and Mood

I was thinking a lot about the impact music has in my life. I know that after a long day, there is nothing that calms and soothes me like the music I choose to play on my drive home. I know that when I am feeling unmotivated, there is nothing that inspires me like music. I found a lot of interesting information online, but one aritcle stoood out as very interesting to me. I found it at

http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/03/seven-ways-music-influences-mood.php

Here is an excerpt:

"Good music has direct access to the emotions. As such it's a fantastic tool for tweaking our moods. Saarikallio and Erkkila (2007) investigated the ways people use music to control and improve their mood by interviewing eight adolescents from Finland. The participants may be a small, very specific group, but they actually present a really useful list:
1. Entertainment - At the most fundamental level music provides stimulation. It lifts the mood before going out, it passes the time while doing the washing up, it accompanies travelling, reading and surfing the web.
2. Revival - Music revitalises in the morning and calms in the evening.
3. Strong sensation - Music can provide deep, thrilling emotional experiences, particularly while performing.
4. Diversion - Music distracts the mind from unpleasant thoughts which can easily fill the silence.
5. Discharge - Music matching deep moods can release emotions: purging and cleansing.
6. Mental work - Music encourages daydreaming, sliding into old memories, exploring the past.
7. Solace - Shared emotion, shared experience, a connection to someone lost.
These seven strategies all aim for two goals: controlling and improving mood. One of the beauties of music is it can accomplish more than one goal at a time. Uplifting music can both divert, entertain and revive. Sad, soulful music can provide solace, encourage mental work and discharge emotions. The examples are endless.
Many of Saarikallio and Erkkila's findings chime with previous research. For example, distraction is considered one of the most effective strategies for regulating mood. Music has also been strongly connected with reflective states. These tend to allow us greater understanding of our emotions. "

I know that I can relate to all of these experiences. The songs that I have added to the playlist on this blog are some of the ones that have these effects on me. I just know my life is so much richer for having music in it.

I also read a lot of interesting articles about how music can increase intelligence and enhance brain development for infants from conception through the first few years of life. Fascinating...

I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts about this and/or particular songs that are meaningful fo you...

On my way home from work today...

... I was following a plumbing service van with the slogan "A Flush Beats a Full House!" on it. It gave me a chuckle. Then, wouldn't you know it... we had a toilet overflow at home tonight! *sigh* Oh well, time for a nice glass of wine after that clean up job!

The Kindness of (American) Strangers

We just had a wonderful vacation to Las Vegas and southern California. It was a bit of a sudden decision, but ended up being absolutely worth it! As a family, we have travelled in the United States quite a bit. In 2002 we drove from Lethbridge, Alberta to Washington D.C. and New York City and back. In 2003 we drove to Reno, Nevada and back over the Oregon coast. And, as is true of many Albertans, we have been known to make trips to Whitefish and Kallispell in Montana. In all of our travels, we have had such positive experiences with meeting people! It has often bothered me to hear Canadians make generalizations about Americans that are very negative and often derogatory. I don't like any particular group of people to be stereotyped or denigrated ( I am a social worker, after all!) but this one has always bothered me a lot. I think it is because the people that I have noticed doing this often surprise me. They are often people who are quite open minded and accepting in many other ways, but for some reason have developed a prejudice in this area.... Anyway, it bugs me. So, I thought it would be good to share the positive experiences we had on this particular trip.

The "random acts of American kindness" started very shortly into our trip. We flew out of Great Falls, Montana to go to Las Vegas. We made a quick stop in Shelby, Montana on the way to Great Falls. While there, the clerk at the gas station gave us free food! For no particular reason, she told Darrin that she noticed our boys and that she has to throw the taquitos out every two hours anyway, so would we like them? Ummm... we have teenage boys.... duh! Oh yeah, they gratefully devoured them! We had a very delayed flight out of Great Falls and the staff at the airport was very kind, accommodating and helpful. It was beyond their control, but they tried to help us be as comfortable as possible while we awaited our flight and they kept giving us updates so we could know what to expect. This was the first time we noticed being called "sweetie", "honey", or "sunshine" by a waitress, which then became something we experienced from waitresses, store clerks, etc. throughout Vegas and California. My kids thought that was pretty cool.

We arrived very late (3:30 a.m.) in Las Vegas to pick up our car rental. We had booked a mid-sized sedan for the trip. The young guy who was working that night seemed to take pity on these exhausted travellers and gave us an upgrade to a very cool yellow jeep at no extra cost!Darrin was thrilled! After leaving the -30 degree temperatures behind in Canada, the thought of driving across the desert or along the California coast in a yellow jeep with the top down was perfect!

After driving from Vegas to Carlsbad, California to meet my parents, we had some time to consider what sights to see there. On our first day, we were sitting in a Jack-in-a-Box restaurant (you know you have to have the experience of American restaurants while there...) discussing our options. We were discussing Sea World as one of the options. A man standing near our table waiting for his order approached us and told us he works at Sea World part time and was wondering if we would like some complimentary tickets? Again... ummm.... duh! Would we? Of course! No strings attached, this fellow just gave them to us! Those tickets are worth $65 US each! So, we went to Sea World, and it was a great day! The lady at the ticket booth when we purchased the two remaining tickets we needed also asked us if were were AMA members, so we could get an extra discount. She didn't need to give us that information, she just did. It was a great experience.

We spent a few days with my parents and enjoyed the California coast. We drove back in the yellow jeep back across the desert and back to Vegas before flying home. Everywhere we went, people would say "hello" on the streets, speak in friendly tones, ask us where we were from, and of course call us "sweetie" or "honey". It was refreshing, and well... nice. :-) As glad as I am to be home, I will always remember those experiences and appreciate the kindness of some (American) strangers.