Music makes people alive inside
In recent months I found out I had some arthritis in my neck and upper back. That called for some important adjustments on my part. One adjustment was the emotional realization that my body was aging — a big surprise! Then I went to work to reduce the arthritis’ physical impact on me. That’s going pretty well.
We all need to deal a variety of “adjustments,” particularly as we age. So you know that no plan will always go “perfectly.” This is my way of saying that next Tuesday’s May 10 Geezer Forum plan fell apart! Folks from Kaniksu Health Services were scheduled to be with us, but just had to cancel on May 3.
So I’m adjusting. But I think the quick change will be both informative and even invigorating for those who can attend. We will re-visit a very stimulating documentary we first viewed on May 26, 2015, “Alive Inside.” It tells how people with dementia and mental illness are rejuvenated through hearing “their music.”
Music can actually make the mind “move.” That’s amazing to me. Many of us love to listen, even play music. It stimulates both our minds and our souls. The same thing happens in people who have dementia or a mental illness.
Music therapists have witnessed pretty amazing “aliveness” with people who normally cannot mentally focus in the same way those of us with no cognitive deficits can.
Whether we use professional musical therapists, friends with musical talents, or a home-selection of music for persons living with dementia, there can be significant benefit not only for those persons, but also for the caregiver. Music lifts the spirits, and the memories, to surprising and healing levels for everyone.
If you haven’t experienced music’s power to re-connect persons living with dementia or mental illness before, I invite you to attend next Tuesday’s Geezer Forum at Columbia Bank’s Community Room. We will watch an incredible documentary film called “Alive Inside”.
The DVD’s jacket speaks truth (in my own viewing experience) when it says the film “chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country who have been revitalized and awakened by the simple act of listening to the music of their youth.”
“Alive Inside” follows a social worker, Dan Cohen, as he introduces music to residents nursing facilities who have pretty significant dementia. He also offers music to some folks with significant mental illness.
As they hear the music personalized for themselves, they brighten up, move to the music, and experience some dramatic “moments of clarity”.
Have you had your own moments of clarity when a loved one with dementia or mental illness heard music and, even for a few minutes, “became himself” again? I have. That’s the kind of power “Alive Inside” shows music possesses.
If you are a family caregiver or a paid caregiver in another person’s home or in some residential community, please consider enjoying and learning from this exceptional video story.
The DVD is 78 minutes in length. So in order to give participants an opportunity to discuss the story’s impact after seeing it, we will begin The Geezer Forum 30 minutes earlier than usual. We will meet 2-4 p.m. next Tuesday, May 26, at Columbia Bank’s Community Room. Please consider joining us!
Paul R. Graves, M.Div., is lead geezer-in-training for Elder Advocates, a consulting ministry on aging issues. He can be reached at 208-610-4971 or elderadvocates@nctv.com.