“The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, in Apollo, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man’s body and reduce it to harmony.”
I had gone to the Medieval and Fairy Fair held at Ipswich and spied this lovely musician busking in a corner, sandwiched between 2 tents. I had seen her busking at other events, but on this occasion, she was suitably dressed in medieval garb, with a lovely leaf green linen dress and creamy yellow wimple, which set off her coppery red hair beautifully. She was playing Greensleeves on her harp, and each note that fell from the strings felt like gentle raindrops on my ears.
It was so picturesque that I simply had to sketch her. So sketch her I did, while holding my A4 sized Stilman and Birn notebook in one hand, and putting bold lines down with the other. It wasn’t the easiest place to sketch from, as she was in a busy spot, and I really didn’t want to be an obstacle to visitors, but I really didn’t want to be jostled either. Fortunately I got the main outlines down fairly quickly, and settled further away in a quieter corner for the application of watercolour, which required me to actually sit down. It’s a small thing, but I am particularly pleased with how I had drawn her right hand, especially the thumb. Hands are one of the hardest things to get right.
Wonder Woman was wandering around enjoying the Medieval Fair too, so I HAD to get a picture with the heroine of my childhood.
Music is so fundamental to well-being.
We recently had a music therapy student working in our unit and it was so pleasant to hear her singing with the sick and elderly. She often held group sessions with patients, and these were always well- attended. Even the crankiest, grumpiest, most unhappy person would smile whenever they saw her coming. She was able to reach out to almost everyone through music and song. I can’t for the life of me understand why hospitals have not made music therapists a fundamental part of the treating health care team. I know music therapists are relatively common in the paediatric sector, but they are almost unknown in adult health care, at least in the part of Australia I’m in anyway.
Aren’t we all in the business of helping people feel better? I’m afraid modern medicine, with its over-emphasis on objective measures and key performance indicators, has very much forgotten the ART of medicine.
Music is Everything
Music travels all around my body.
Now I can say it's living right through me.
Listening to music puts me in a good mood;
It makes me want to stand up and start to groove.
Music can make me forget all of my pain.
It brings out the sun when I can only see the rain.
I put on my headphones and play all of my songs.
I could listen to it all day long.
Music takes me to another place,
Higher than the sky and far away from the space.
There's nothing to compare to it in the whole world.
It wouldn't even be better than my favourite girl.
Music can teach you many lessons,
Like stand up for your rights and all the good reasons.
I know there are people who think the same way
Because they know music lives in us every day.
— Jbizzy —
Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/music-is-everything
