Comforted and invigorated by music

Each one of us has a special song – a song unique to our spirit, character, and experience. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be music in the literal meaning of the word. Who doesn’t cheer up just by hearing the “beloved’s” voice? Or who doesn’t feel comforted by the sound of words of love?

My friend from India, Yaso, and her husband Saravanah, both residents of Little Rock – and whose presence at the hospital and our apartment was a blessing for us – taught me an old Hindu tradition. Even when Bia is asleep, talk to her, quietly, whisper words of love, affection, and comfort. This was confirmed by Dr. Suen, who without knowing about Yaso’s advice, asked me to do the same thing after a post-op crisis after Bia’s second surgery. I personally verified that loving words have the great power of soothing and comforting.

If possible, ask a musician – a friend or a commissioned one – a violinist, a saxofonist, a guitarrist or an accordionist to play the Loved One’s favorite songs, starting from the hallway to the bedroom.

If the Loved One is a child, why not a group of clowns? Check out the miracles performed by the Brazilian organization “Doutores da Alegria” (doctors of joy) through Joy, Dedication, Good Humor.

Record the Loved One’s favorite songs in an Ipod, an MP3, a cassette.

“Still in the hospital, Gilson and Suzana, a Brazilian couple living in Little Rock, brought me something that was the best thing during my stay and in the post-op period: an mp3 with recordings of Brazilian songs. Listening to Brazilian sounds helped me relax and, consequently, forget pains and discomforts”. – Bia


Remember and sing lullabyes, and other children’s songs.
In 21st century Japan, mothers are being encouraged to sing lullabyes (komori utá) to their babies. Educators have noticed that children who are sung to become more responsible, secure, and creative adults.

Bring in familiar sounds and noises – parents singing, grandchildren giggling and sending messages, friends talking. You can even record a pet parrot speaking.

Play music from different periods of time and styles. Try to relate them to the context in which they were created. You can play country music, rock, pop, Brazilian popular music, heavy metal, classic, and so on.

Make music together inspired by a happy occasion.

Create musical instruments from unusal materials – matchboxes, PET bottles, seashells, calabashes; fill them with seeds or pebbles – test their varied acoustic potential.

Talk about the sounds you would like to hear: the wind blowing in the trees, seawaves crashing against rocks, the sound of cicadas, guitars in the night.
Personally, I still like to walk on pebble paths. It reminds me of my grandfather carrying me inside a large basket on his back, and the sound of his boots stepping on the pebbles on the road. Reminiscent sounds of a happy and carefree childhood.

Blindfold the Loved One and lead him/her on a walk on an unpaved road, covered with pebbles, and have him/her feel its coarseness and listen to the sounds of the ground under his or her feet.
Go to a garden and have him or her touch and feel the roughness of a tree bark, smell the gentle fragrance of flowers, have them guess the plant he or she is holding in their hands (crush an orange, lemon, eucalyptus or other pungent-smellling leaf).

Stimulate the Loved One to find onomatopoeic words, that is, words that try to imitate the sound of the thing they are describing. Examples: murmur, click, whisper, chirp, oink, buzz, tic-tac, meow, etc.
Or try to create alliterations – repetition of a leading vowel or consonant in the beginning, middle or end of a sentence. A common example in English is “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers".

As a reminder of the importance of words, we quote John 1: 1-5:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The Word is God’s Wisdom that illuminates the consciousness of every man.