Music Therapy Pt. 2

Alas, I received not even one comment on the topic of music therapy. Perhaps the practice is so obscure that no one who views this blog has even heard about it. Imagine that! Anyways, it’s time to move on. Today we’ll be talking about a specific case of the truly marvelous powers of music, and how they’ve helped countless people out.

From a book entitled “Musicophilia,” Oliver Sacks recalls an old woman named Rosalie, who had Parkinson’s disease. “[She] remained transfixed, completely motionless, for most of the day, usually with one finger on her glasses. But she can play the piano beautifully, and for hours - and when she plays her Parkinsonism disappears, and all is ease and fluency and freedom and normality.” I was so blown away when I read this that I had to read it again. Now, here’s a woman, who is not able to do anything but sit, all day; she surely longs for the independence she once had. And then music comes along; good old music, and her world is transformed. She can suddenly do things she couldn't do in years. And of course, once again, as always, this is just further proof that things that are sitting right in front of our ears (or eyes or nose or mouth, depending what we’re talking about) can be something so much greater than ever believed. People, this is why we live. It is our job as humans to find the potential in things that may not be obvious. I mentioned this in the introductory post on this blog, but I wasn’t kidding; we really do have the power to change the future. 

Doesn’t that sound a little bit exciting, if not an absurdly huge statement to make?