Arts & Healing

Recently someone asked me: "What is the first thing a person should do after being diagnosed with a serious disease or after having a traumatic accident?" My answer was three fold. Buy season tickets to the symphony, activate your library card, and get an Advantage Plus membership to Blockbuster.

Living in silence and without mental stimulation is not good when struggling with health problems. There is too much time to let your mind bring you down about your situation.

Fill your house with music. Get out your old records, tapes and CD's. Turn on your radio. Better yet, take advantage of the Digital Music which comes with the Cable TV package. You can choose between 45 types or channels of music and there are no commercials.

Music has a tremendous healing capability. It can raise your spirits and give you energy. Listen to different kinds of music. I like to listen to Classic Rock in the morning and when I work out, I listen to jazz at dinnertime and to blues late at night. On Sundays I enjoy Gospel, Bluegrass, and listening to Garrison Keeler's Prairie Home Companion.

Fill your life with live music. The energy you get from a live band in concert beats anything you can get from listening to "canned" music. Also, go to every Symphony concert you can. Many people think that classical music is boring. It is not! It is beautiful; and when things are looking dark and ugly in your life, it is very therapeutic to sit down and listen to something beautiful. A classical symphony expresses all the emotions of human life: Joy, sorrow, defeat, love and victory. As you listen to such music it will touch you. You will know that you are not the only person to suffer, and that resurrection is possible.

Use your mind. Stop by the library. Fill your house with books. Good books give you something to think about besides your own predicament. Reading about the times and struggles of other people can help you see that your problems are miniature by comparison.

While your at the library, pick up some videos. Watch as many movies as possible. Escape into someone else's story. Good comedies are the most therapeutic.

In short, if you want to feel better get into the arts. Enjoy life!





Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story.


For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com

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