What’s something you do that makes you happy? Taking a walk in a park? Going bungee jumping and skydiving? Taking long road trips across country? Or maybe something simpler like reading a
book or sitting on your back porch smoking a cigar? Sometimes, the little things in life can make
a person happy. I myself have a few
activities that make me happy; taking a walk around the neighborhood and having
a conversation with close friends are some of them. My favorite thing, however, is listening to
music. I find that it helps relax my
well-being. Whether I’m listening to
artists like Fall Out Boy, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, or even Maroon 5, the
music always takes my mind off of any troubles that I’ve had and soothes my
soul.
There is a
relationship between music and happiness.
In fact, neurological studies show that our brains are “hardwired to
interpret and react emotionally to a piece of music.” When you listen to “happy” songs, you feel a
sense of joy and light-heartedness (i.e. “Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin). By that logic, someone could easily argue
that if someone were to listen to sad or angry music, that person would become
depressed or upset in response. That argument
is untrue however. I know plenty of
people who listen to hardcore bands on a daily basis and even go to those types
of concerts regularly, yet they’re as happy as can be. The late Chris Cornell once said:
“I've
always liked depressing music because a lot of times, listening to it when
you're down can actually make you feel less depressed. Also, even though a
person may have problems with depression, sometimes you can actually be kind of
comfortable in that space because you know how to operate within it.”
A study at
the Deakin University in Victoria conducted 1,000 interviews on random citizens
in Australia in order to analyze if there is a connection between music and
happiness. As a result, they discovered
that people who engage in music by dancing and attending concerts are reported
to have “a higher level of subjective well-being.” People who attend concerts are more active
and connected to music, allowing them to express themselves. But this alone does not mean that you have to
attend a concert and dance in order to be happier. Accordingly, the average age of the people in
the survey conducted was around 56 years old, and the musical entertainment was
mostly classical and theater musicals. Not
everyone wants to dance at a concert; they would rather sit at the back or
front row and enjoy the music being played.
Or maybe they’d rather sit in the pews of the Ryman Auditorium while
listening to a country band. The point
is that you don’t have to physically engage in music in order to enjoy it.
Frederic
Nietzsche once wrote, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” This coming from a man who actively fought
physical pain just to go for a walk and be happy!
But he was right; music certainly does have an active role
in life, including happiness. Even if
you’ve had an absolutely horrible day, like getting fired from a job or your
car gets totaled in a car accident, music can help bring your mental and
emotional state up. You can dance, tap
your foot, head bang, or do nothing at all while listening to music. You can listen to your favorite songs however
you want as long as it makes you happy.
One of my philosophies is to always do what makes you happy, and I think
we all can agree that music is certainly one of the doorways in the pursuit of
happiness.
Comments:
https://philoshap.blogspot.com/2017/12/is-ignorance-bliss.html?showComment=1512439780100#c5553015885574869388
https://philoshap.blogspot.com/2017/11/money-and-happiness-final-report-1st.html?showComment=1512440056106#c1315061421449516512
Reference Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/17/health/music-concerts-dancing-study-trnd/index.html
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/music-and-happiness2.htm
“I've always liked depressing music because a lot of times, listening to it when you're down can actually make you feel less depressed" - right, that's the formula for (traditional) country music, or as my old roomie said, "Cry in your beer music"...
ReplyDelete"rather sit in the pews of the Ryman Auditorium" - sitting on those hard old planks is a form of self-abnegation, right?
See my music appreciation reading list below, after Kyle's 1st installment. Any other suggestions, anyone?
I feel like this is a nice thing to have alongside my project; you're talking about music in general and I'm talking about specific music.
ReplyDeleteI agree that sad and angry music does not necessarily make you sad or angry, it's more like a channel for sadness or anger. Sort of like audio catharsis: instead of smashing things, you channel your anger out by listening to some hardcore metal.
I know that even with how depressing it is, I actually feel kinda good listening to Gary Jules's Mad World. That doesn't work with all sad music though, How to Save a Life makes me super depressed. Reminds me of a bad time in my life.
Music is pure magic. I think it's funny how we (humans) make the music and we enjoy it so heavily. like it's a magic made just for us. Yet, there have been instances where it is quite obvious animals are enjoying just as much as we are... like this AMAZING video of cows rushing to hear a trombone
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs_-emj1qR4