I am participating in the 31 Days of Free Writes October challenge. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. (Confession: I *may* not be able to resist spell-checking!)
Today’s prompt: CREATE
Apparently there is something deep (very deep) in our brains that leads us to create, even when many of our other senses are turned off/disabled.
Our hospice music therapist, Maurisa (sp?), sat down with her guitar and her talent in February, and sang to/with my father-in-law (if you listen VERY closely, you can hear him chiming in here).
This is a man who, in his entire lifetime when he was fully able, did not to my knowledge spontaneously sing. I sat through many masses with him and I’m sure he sang “along,” but he was not the kind of guy to break out in song. Not the kind of guy to be demonstrative.Creating isn’t always a huge masterpiece hung on the wall to be admired by throngs of people.
Sometimes, it is born of one person (in this case, the music therapist) who takes the time to learn how to reach deeper, to take the risk that another person may or may not sing along.
It takes someone compassionate enough to create a space and a moment of joy for a person who others have decided doesn’t want (or isn’t able) to chime in anymore.
The act of creating can surprise you.
Music reaches something very far back in the brain, clearly.
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
So true! For years I thought I wasn’t artistic…and then I realized that as one created in the image of the Creator, well, I’m creative!
EXACTLY! 🙂
My mom always says things like “I’m not creative like you,” when in fact she’s one of the most creative people I know. Sometimes our understanding of create/creative is just too narrow.
YES! Exactly. Sometimes I feel like such a novice doing things I’m not especially adept at (like painting rocks) but the process alone does something for me regardless of the outcome’s aesthetics.
of course the act of creating can surprise…isn’t that part of being creative? 🙂
YES! EXACTLY!!
YES!! We are all unique and creative in our own way. Thank God we are created by such an amazing God that loves us so much and gives us each of these creative gifts for a purpose. Wonderful post!
I agree, Keisha — and we had so many “angels” who were each creative in their own way during our caregiving phase for my FIL.
Your description of your father-in-law’s interaction with the music therapist, and the space that she created to allow him to join in if he wanted (or was able) brought back a flood of memories from the past couple of months of my Mom’s sickness. The day before she died, the music therapist came and sang some of my Mom’s favourites. It had taken a month and a half for trust to be built between the two of them. So much tenderness in those created moments.
Thanks for what you shared.
Aw, Beth – thank you. He passed away three months ago and the little clip I shared was from February, but processing it all takes time. Thank you for sharing that memory of your mom. <3
It truly can surprise us!
Indeed!