FEATURED COLUMNIST
The One Habit I Wish I Had Discovered in My Twenties
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enry sits quietly in his wheelchair, a marooned shell of a man. He is old, inert, depressed, hardly responsive, and barely alive. Can anything pull him out of the lonely, dark world he inhabits? Fortunately for Henry, he has Yvonne Russell. Yvonne is a recreation therapist, and she uses an iPod and earphones to play some of Henry’s favorite music from the past. What happens next is nothing short of a miracle. Henry comes alive. Oliver Sacks, the late physician, best-selling author, and professor of neurology, says in the video: “The philosopher Kant once called music the ‘quickening art’ and Henry is being quickened, he is being brought to life.” We watch as Henry starts to dance with
by John P. Weiss
his arms and sing to the music. Afterward, the earphones are removed and Henry is asked questions. Normally mute and unresponsive, Henry becomes quite voluble and expressive. Dr. Sacks goes on to note: “So in some sense, Henry is restored to himself. He has remembered who he is and has reacquired his identity for a while through the power of music.” When asked what music does to him, Henry answers: “It gives me the feeling of love.” As much as this video demonstrates the power of music, it also shows Henry doing something that is deeply important for happiness. It’s something we can all do but often neglect in this age of rapid distractions, side hustles, and 24/7 busyness.
8 / February 2022 / Scotts Valley Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
We read to know we’re not alone used to read to my mother. In her final years, the tremors of Parkinson’s disease destroyed her fine motor skills. Holding a book was impossible. A lifelong reader, Mom missed the joy of immersing herself in a good book. We tried audiobooks, but she was unable to control electronic devices. I hired a woman named Suzanne to read to my mother twice weekly when I could not be there, but Mom preferred to socialize with Suzanne. So, I became Mom’s reader, enabling her to experience worlds outside her contorted body. “We read to know we’re not alone.”— William Nicholson, Shadowlands Over time I noticed something profound. Because my mother was unable to walk or even hold a book, the world she lived in slowed down. Conversations became immensely important and pleasurable for Mom. When I read to her, she became quiet and completely transfixed. Meals and desserts were almost holy occasions for Mom. She was doing something that the rest of us, in our busy lives of commitments and ambitions, often fail to do. She was savoring the moments. Opportunities to linger in a positive moment here are so many things we can savor if we just learn to slow down. We can savor a meal, a relationship, a conversation, a book, a movie, a piece of music, past memories, and more. According to a psychologytoday. com article: “Savoring just means that we attempt to fully feel, enjoy, and extend our positive experiences. Savoring is a great way to develop a long-lasting stream of positive thoughts and emotions, because positive events cannot always be relied on to make you happier.” Taking the time to savor the things you enjoy can lead to greater happiness in life. It can also lead to greater creativity. Consider the following excerpt from an article on the benefits of savoring in positivepsychlopedia.com: “In Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience, authors Fred B. Bryant and Joseph Veroff posit that savoring may be part of creativity. Although savoring isn’t the same as flow — the state of intense absorption that heightens performance — it does share the features of clear
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John P. Weiss with his mom. She had Parkinson’s, and he frequently read to her. focus and attention to the present. When we savor, we pay more attention to details and complexity, which may come in handy later when our brains seek out the raw materials of creative ideas. Experiences that were once savored can become the fodder for written masterpieces, scientific experiments, and great business ideas.” The great outdoors, kind people, amazing meals, books, and deep conversations are more than just nice things to experience. They are opportunities to linger in a positive moment. Opportunities to savor. Another way to exercise being present y father used to enjoy summer days sitting outside on his patio. He would sip iced tea, relax, listen to the birds, and daydream. In essence, he was savoring the moment. What’s the difference between savoring and mindfulness? According to an article in OutsideOnline.com: “Like mindfulness, savoring is another way to exercise being present, but it takes things a step further. ‘Mindfulness asks you to observe the present moment without judging it and then let go of it,’ explains Fred Bryant, a psychology professor at Loyola University who pioneered the field of research. ‘Whereas with savoring, you observe a specific type of moment, a positive one, and then you try to cling onto it and not let it go.’”
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