Neither John nor his wife Mary (both names changed) had the skills to perform minor home repairs. This retired couple has a substantial income and has no interest in becoming ‘Mr. Fix-It’ when it comes to home repairs. But whenever a small problem arose, like changing a door lock, the toilet flush not working, or the ceiling fan running slowly in the summer, John would come up with what he called ‘troubleshooting’. He would say to Mary, ‘If you move the toilet handle in a special way, there will be no problem.’ Depending on the severity of the problem, the couple would carry on like this for hours, days or weeks. When Mary felt that ‘this work would no longer be possible’, she would call a professional. And then John would get angry and create a scene. They try to mislead Mary into thinking everything is okay. But Mary would call a professional over John’s protests, while John would prefer that the repair be postponed for a few hours or days. However, when the repairman came, John behaved well and even accepted the work when it was done. But between the problem and the solution, Mary had to face a lot of anxiety and unnecessary drama. This would have made the atmosphere more tense. Then a therapist suggested it, and two months later, Mary’s problem, which she had been struggling with for the past decade, disappeared. Mary told the therapist that John used to take violin lessons during his school days, but stopped after a few classes. When the same class that John attended in the 1970s started a batch for adults, especially seniors, in 2013, the therapist encouraged John to take his violin out of his suitcase and go for a two-month residential class. For John, that class was the same as it was 50 years ago. There are a variety of summer music programs available for adults in the United States. For campers like John, these programs provide an opportunity to relive the musical experiences of his youth and form new social connections. Composing music emotionally is good for the soul. This made John creative. He got a chance to compose music of his choice and his morale also got boosted. Mentally, research shows that learning and playing an instrument helps form better neurological connections in the brain. Experts say that ‘it can help in keeping dementia away. When you play music together, you transcend the trivial things of life and it is the best spiritual experience anyone can have.’ During John’s music class trip, Mary got everything in the house repaired without telling him. John was happy on his return and this reduced the tension for both of them. These summer music programs vary according to playing ability, such as beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Some organizations like ‘Musical America Worldwide’ and ‘The Instrumentalists’ even have guides like our old telephone directory. In some camps, grandfather and grandson are students together, because both of them are beginners. In some camps, the participation of elders above 60 has doubled and they feel that the social connection formed in the camp is very important. The bottom line is that since social interaction is decreasing in many people’s lives these days, one should take advantage of such opportunities outside the home. Because there we can connect with new people with shared interests and this has a positive impact on our health and aging.
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N. Raghuraman’s column: Learning music can become a cure for stressful situations.
