Most people will tend to agree that after battling for more than a year to stay safe from the COVID-19 virus, one of the big keys to a healthy mental state is the ability to stay positive.
At times that can be a tall task to accomplish for the strongest of us, but essentially it all boils down to each of us finding our own personal niche of positivity. The truth of the matter is what works for one person might not do anything for the next one, but it is important to find something that gives you that positive feeling.
However, something that can touch many of us in staying positive is the arts — like music, painting, pottery, crafts, drawing, writing or even woodworking. That positivity can come from creating something artistic or just being an admirer of someone else’s works that stimulates the mind that leads to positive thoughts.
No, we can’t have concerts or art shows right now due to the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t be creative in our own personal way in those areas.
A PBS television show that recently touched on that subject is an interesting weekly program called "Firing Line" that is hosted by Margaret Hoover. The show originated decades ago with the late William F. Buckley and features a one-on-one interview format with a guest from backgrounds that are very diverse.
In a recent show the current host Hoover interviewed world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and delved into the different things he does with music to stay positive in these pandemic times. Like most musicians, the ability to perform in a live setting before an audience is what helps to fuel the creative and positive nature of an artist like him.
However, that venue isn’t open to him at this time, so he began thinking about what types of things motivate people to be positive in their lives.
Ma said that one of the things that intrigued him during the pandemic was the question, “Who people are and why they do what they do?” It is a question that really makes you wonder about the passion that drives people go into certain lines of work as opposed to doing something else with their life.
What it reminded me personally about was the old saying that “If you do something you love doing, you will never work a day in your life.” Likewise, I feel that be can paraphrased into “If you keep doing something you love doing you will remain positive in the tough times of a pandemic.”
Listening to Ma talk it quickly left the impression that this is a man who has never worked a day in his life thanks to music. But the message he delivered with it that was equally strong was people from all walks of life can use a love of performing and listening to music to stay positive in pandemic times.
Ma said many people have musical ability from their youth that they file away when they enter a different career. He pointed out that just playing an instrument or listening to others on recordings can bring a level of positive thinking to all of us, be it classical, rock, Jazz, country or whatever.
He spoke of playing 30 pieces of the great composer Bach at various locations like vaccine clinics and other venues because people can gain comfort from music just as he does from performing it. He also talked about how it was his way of communicating what he has to offer to others in these times, be it in person in small settings or virtually.
“I feel comfortable dealing with people on the screen virtually and I can make it jump,” he said to Hoover. “There is a powerful excitement of music that is not shut down by the pandemic. It allows me to communicate with people.”
It is also what drove him on his latest project of creating a recording called “Songs of Comfort and Hope” designed to keep people positive in these troubling times. He also collaborated with people from all musical backgrounds showing that music can be that universal language when we need it the most.
Along those same lines, Hoover showed him a prime example of the same thing when 24 young cellists located all over the world recently combined in a virtual setting of the classic piece “The Swan.” Each of the 24 cellists played a piece of “The Swan” from their location in various countries and then it was digitally combined at a different location creating a beautiful finished product.
But more importantly it gave these young musicians the opportunity to let their instruments sing, giving them the ability to use their personal niche to stay positive using a less than normal setting. And to those who listened to their beautiful sound, it lifted their spirits and left them feeling positive.
The same can be said of artwork, whether it is done for someone’s personal pleasure or to be viewed and enjoyed by others. It’s creativity at its best, but more importantly it brings a sense of doing something positive at a time when we all need it most.
So see if your niche is in the arts even it’s just for your own personal enjoyment because it’s something that will leave you feeling positive long after I see you again on Thursday.
Ken Grabowski is the retired associate editor at the Manistee News Advocate. He can be reached grubba65@yahoo.com.
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April 04, 2021 at 07:04PM
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KEN GRABOWSKI: Yo-Yo Ma show us a way to use music to stay positive during pandemic - Manistee News Advocate
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