The Power of Music

"Sensitive souls draw in the negativity of others because they are so open"--John Gray

Okay.  I give.  What's up with everyone?  Is it the heat?  I know it's hot...I'm hot,too, but I try not to take it out on everyone else. Frustration and anger only make the heat feel worse. We're in our third day of 90+ degree temperatures which makes it an official heatwave, and prior to this we were in the 80's and humid...so not much difference there.  


I've noticed...there's lots of negativity swirling around in the air here in the city..Perhaps it is the heat; it is far too early to be having such a heat wave, and people are becoming quite testy. Take this morning. It's 8 am.  As I sit at my desk enjoying my oatmeal, the day is new and alive with possibilities.  Then it begins.  Co-workers start to arrive.  The counselor whose office is across the hall arrives.  I put on a smile and say good morning; she walks right on by with a nasty puss on her face.  I know her home life is not so great, but we're taught to leave home at home and work at work...not so easy to do, but I have been in the field long enough that I know how to separate.  

Then, the phone rings and on the other side is an angry ex-client who wants to know why he was discharged; now he is worried about parole.  Well, you haven't been here, haven't even had the courtesy to call in over 30 days; what do you expect? By 10 am I find myself drained of my passion and positive attitude.  I work with such a 'strange' bunch; it's hard to believe, and a little scary, that they have people's lives in their hands. Allow me to introduce you.


My co-worker from this morning just passed her social work exam. She is now licensed.  She is bi-polar and refuses to take her medication because it makes her "fat".  The only clients she wants are white, middle-classed with an education and a job. 
We work with the poor, the mentally ill.  Need I say more?


You all know about my office mate who talks on the phone all day. Her poor clients never get to see a counselor.


Then, we have the nurse who suffers from psychosomatic illnesses...whatever you have, she has, too...only she has it worse than you.  And medical knowledge?  Here is a woman who told me to put heat on an infection and still believes you can catch HIV from a glass. 


We have another counselor who graduated from a T.C. and acts like a prison guard.  She just loves barging into  your office. 


Then, there is my other co-worker, who caters to the clients' every whim...which makes it very difficult for the rest of us when our clients expect the same thing.  An integral part of recovery is learning responsibility...especially when you never had any.


The only fairly normal co-worker I have is our art therapist who keeps himself pretty much locked in his office.  But, he, too, has been known to snap at a moment's notice.

So, there you have it...the cast of characters I work with each and every day.  If we weren't dealing with serious issues here, they would be a great cast of characters for a comedy show. So, why am I feeling so good today?  Why I am smiling?

Well, the fact is, I've done something I should have done a long time ago.  I bought myself a good pair of headphones and several DVD's--Enya and Loreena Mckennett..and I am in 7th heaven.  There is nothing more healing to me than music and the ocean...and since I can't be at the ocean, I can at least have the music.  

Music has a way of stirring our innermost feelings and enhancing our well-being.  I does to our health what flowers do to a garden. It is one of the best relaxation therapies imaginable. My stress level is down and I feel like a new person. Why did this take me so long?


"Rhythm and harmony find their way to the inward places of the soul."--Plato