Creativity and Our Soul Quest

Last week I took a break from my PhD Multivariate Statistics studies to enjoy a jazz concert with my wife and daughter. We went to One World Theater in Austin, Texas to hear Keiko Matsui. The evening was an enchanting night of appreciation of creativity as well as thinking about my Soul Quest.

The One World Theater is a small intimate music venue. You experience the music there as even in the back rows you are still seem to be close to the artist. They bring in a wide variety of musicians throughout the year. If you find yourself visiting Austin do check out their concert listings.

Hearing Keiko and her band always helps me to appreciate the creative mind. We have heard her numerous times but never tire of her music. She has such variety of styles in her compositions. Watching her play the keyboards and piano it is clear that she is one with her instruments. The band she assembles has the same spirit of professionalism in their creativity with their instruments: guitar, sax, bass and drums. To see and hear 5 musicians play with such a unified spirit and selflessness of the give and take of solos is enjoyable to experience. You can hear it in a studio track on a CD but to see the interaction of the creative process live in concert is amazing.

It is her creativity in her song writing and keyboard playing that has kept her as one of my favorite musicians. That is why I list in my creative thinking chapter of my book, Living More Than OK. Her creative gift is one that she shares with the world in her calming and inspiring music.

I mentioned as well, that her concert made me think of my personal Soul Quest. Primarily because she played that evening many songs from her Soul Quest CD. Her music was a refreshing reminder that even though we are in a material based world the alternative reality of the spiritual world is with us if we are open to listen and see. I have always felt that the creative nature that we each carry in us and the creativity of the world around us points to a Creator behind all things. We all have our personal Soul Quest that is part of our journey as pilgrims in this short life on Earth.

Take a listen to Keiko’s song Soul Quest (click on the title) and think through your Soul Quest as you listen. The song begins with a soft mystical beginning and moves into a light meditative melody. It reminds me of the scriptures in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." We need to quiet ourselves and have an open heart in our Soul Quest. It is in those times God can reveal Himself to us. Her song builds in strength just like we move further along in our Soul Quest our spiritual life can move higher up and further into deeper communion with God. Then at the end the song returns to quiet and calmness which reminded me again of the be still and listen aspect of the spiritual life.

If you ever have a chance to hear Keiko Matsui in concert do take the opportunity. You will not be disappointed.

Reflection: Go to YouTube.com and search for Keiko Matsui’s music videos. Listen to one of her songs of your choice and think through what do you appreciate about the song? What do you appreciate about creative musicians and the gift they offer in enriching our lives?

Soothing Stress Relief Through Music

When I recently spoke with my College Success course students about anxiety and stress, I brought up the subject of music as a stress reliever. I enjoy music immensely and believe in the power of music to calm and energize. Several of the students shared how music helps them to focus their minds on their studies so they can concentrate better. Other students shared how before tests there are certain songs that help motivate them to do their best.

Music helps to create moods that can aid in improving our emotions for relaxation or excitement. At times I have made the mistake of playing soft relaxing music prior to my 8 am lectures and students tell me to toss on some rock or country music to wake them up. Music can have a powerful effect on us. I want to share a couple of my favorite music choices when I am stressed out that help calm me down so you can think over how to use music as one way to deal with your life stress times.

First of all is a jazz musician I have mentioned many times in the past and in my book, Living More Than OK. Her name is Keiko Matsui. She is a smooth jazz pianist and composer of her music. She has songs that energize as well as songs that calm and heal the soul. Even her upbeat songs I can enjoy while I am relaxing while reading a book or simply trying to calm down from the worries of the day. I primarily listen to her cd’s yet sometimes if I have my computer on I enjoy some of the creative videos that have been created for her songs. Check out this example of a video based on her song Deep Blue:

Keiko Matsui song Deep Blue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTRiXtP7lkA

Then one musician/composer I bring up each semester to my students when speaking about beating stress is Dr. Jeffrey Thompson. He is a chiropractor in his primary career path who has also had a passion for studying the healing qualities of sound and music. He is an expert in the field of acoustic pacing frequencies that he adapts into his musical compositions. His music is relaxing as the basic tempos match the breathing patterns in mindfulness meditation. So one reason I listen to his music is to slow down my breathing and to remind myself to take deep slow breathes. This type of music is helpful in de-stressing and lowering blood pressure. I have tested it out for myself when my blood pressure was high after listening to his music for 15 minutes or so, I have checked my blood pressure and it has gone down. Dr. Thompson’s music comes across as rather spacey so the first time listening it may take time to be used to it but the effects of relaxing of the body is noticed by most students when I try it in classes for them to listen to his compositions. Try listening to a sample of his music from Youtube:

Sleep Flow Dreaming by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1KthVjxDAA

Of course in speaking to students about relaxing music I bring up Classical Baroque music as well. Don Campbell in his book, The Mozart Effect, points to research after research that has shown the health benefits of classical music on the body, mind, emotions, and spirit of people. I do make use of my classical cds as well in relaxing while I am working in my office. It helps in being more productive with busy work if I have music such as classical music playing. I tell my students you do not have to break the bank of buying classical music as Youtube has collections of classical music for concentration and studying. Here is a sample here:

Study Music for Concentration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AKLiYeaHgk



Hopefully this post has given you some ideas about using music to conquer stress or improve your concentration. I hope you tried out the samples given here. Think through your favorite music and reflect on how it helps in your life and your moods.

Reflection: Listen fully to one of the three music samples above and reflect on how it made you feel. What is your favorite music style or favorite musicians? How does your music help you in your life?

Positive Impacting Music To Live More Than OK

I was doing research on aggression for a class in my PhD program a week ago and my focus was to see the relation between music and aggression. I chose that because I believe music is a powerful force. It is one activity many people of all ages enjoy. Occasionally I will run into someone who hates music but most people either love music or at least enjoy it. When it comes to music should we be careful to what we listen to? I believe there are positives and negatives in most facets of life and to live the best life possible we should feed our mind with that which is the most positive. Today I want to share some of my thoughts on the importance of positive music as well as some of the information from various research.

I first began to think of just instrumental music and its effect experientially on people. A study out of Germany (Krahe & Bieneck. 2012) looked at how music affects the mood of listeners. They used two groups of listeners one listening to hardcore techno music and the other group listened to calm relaxing classical music. Those who listened to the heavy techno music did have higher levels of feelings of aggression and tension after listening. Those who listened to the calmer music had less tension and lower aggression levels. So this showed how even just the style of music may have an effect on emotional responses to those hearing the music. So, just the music alone has a physical effect on the listener. This does not mean listening to heavier beat music will turn someone violent as there are other factors. Actually when I am busy on organizing material or driving I prefer faster tempo music to keep my mind focused. Yet when needing to rest I prefer classical or smooth jazz.

One concern I have is the high levels of alcohol and drug abuse in our culture. A relevant study on music and substance abuse looked at various music styles and substance abuse among the listeners (Chen, Miller, Grube, & Waiters, 2006) . They found a high level of lyrical content about drugs, alcohol and violence in rap and heavy rock music songs. An interesting point that stood out to me is that with rap music many of the artists promote malt liquor and it just so happens in the study the highest use of malt liquor was among listeners of rap music. I am concerned about this as I am a big believer in the work of the organization Natural High. They seek to encourage school age students to think of natural ways to be high instead of using drugs and alcohol. Their website is naturalhigh.org. There are too many lives destroyed due to drugs and alcohol and there are so many positive ways to enjoy life instead of the phony myths that promote drugs as a good thing.

There was also a study of the negative effects of rap with College males using rap music (Barongan and Hall 1995). They used two groups one listening to positive rap that looked at social justice issues. The other group listened to sexual aggressive rap that spoke of women in a negative light. The participants were then to view video clips to share with a female confidant of the study. Those who listened to the positive rap leaned towards showing a video clip that was neutral to the female confidant participant. Those who listened to the sexual violent rap were more inclined to show the female participant in the study a video that was sexually demeaning. These researchers felt that the results backed up other studies in the literature that sexually violent rap does lead to a tendency towards negative views and aggression towards women. I have many college students in my classes, who list rap and hip hop as their favorite music style. This is disconcerting when I hear what they are filling their minds with lyrically. It reminds me of the old computer programming phrase, “Garbage In, Garbage Out!”. I tried a search for positive rap artists and none of the famous artists show up. That is because most of their rap songs are garbage promoting a demeaning view of women or promoting violence. . It would be nice to reach a point in the world, when all the women and men with critical thinking skills would walk out of a rap concert when the rappers start one of their derogatory misogynous songs, leaving the rappers standing in an empty concert hall all by themselves.

I am not encouraging censorship as I believe in the constitutional right of free speech. What I encourage people to do is think about what they listen to and support musicians that promote positive music to impact our living the best life possible. Here are some of my favorite musicians that I find as being very positive:

Phil Keaggy -- www.philkeaggy.com An amazing guitarist and singer/songwriter

Keiko Matsui -- www.keikomatsui.com My favorite smooth jazz pianist

Tom Braxton -- www.tombraxton.com Fantastic Saxophonist!

Switchfoot -- www.switchfoot.com A band introduced to me by a former TSTC student. They write songs that make one think about life and the afterlife.

Matthew West -- matthewwest.com A very inspiring singer/songwriter/storyteller

Lecrae -- www.lecrae.net A rapper who is trying to make a difference with rap music.


Reflection – Who are musicians and music styles that you like and find very positive? Check out a couple of the websites I list above and try out some new music.

References
Barongon, C. & Hall, G.C. N. ( 1995). The influence of misogynous rap music on sexual aggression against women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19. 195-207

Chen, M., Miller, B.A., Grube, J.W. & Waiters, E.D. Music, substance abuse, and aggression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, May, 2006


Krahe, B. & Bieneck, S. ( 2012). The effect of music-induced mood on aggressive affect, cognition and behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42. 271-290.

Building Christmas Memories

One way to counter stress during the Holiday Season is to build memories from the different activities you do through the time period. It can be family traditions or new holiday activities you try out. Keep a mindset of enjoying the Christmas Season instead of worrying over whether everything will be picture perfect. The Holiday issues of magazine Christmas scenes are perfect because they have a full film crew to make the scene perfect. So unless you have the money to hire a complete decorating crew don’t stress out if something winds up out of place.

We experienced a new Christmas activity at the middle of December when we enjoyed a jazz concert called The Gospel According to Jazz Christmas with Kirk Whalum, Keiko Matsui and Amber Bullock at Austin’s One World Theater. We went because of
Keiko Matsui, our favorite jazz pianist. She is so magical at the keyboards so I thought who better to hear doing Christmas music. We had never heard Kirk Whalum and I was surprised to hear he was the Sax player for Whitney Houston. He is an amazing saxophonist, but more so his sincere Christian faith came across to make the Christmas carols so much more from the heart and felt real. The best part of the concert for me was a rousing jazz rendition of Do You Hear What I Hear, where Kirk directed the audience singing in parts while the band jammed in the background. Having a music background it was funny hearing some of the audience who could not pick up on the syncopation. Kirk Whalum mentioned this was the first time for this concert series so they would be back in Austin next year. This is definitely a Christmas concert we will want to repeat next year.

On the concert front, we also attended the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s concert of The Lost Christmas Eve in San Antonio’s AT & T center. We had experienced them last Christmas and were so amazed at their musical artistry we wanted to hear them again. Even though most of the music was familiar just hearing the talented musicians and the compelling story of the Miracle of Hope and Change in the lives of people at Christmas was well worth hearing them again. I also appreciated hearing how wherever the troupe goes they donate some of the proceeds of their concert to a local charity.
Another important activity this Christmas was a Christmas program sponsored by a group my wife has been involved with this Fall. They are a group of Christians that work with youth in a nearby low income project neighborhood. They tutor the children, play games and teach Bible stories to them one night a week. They had the children do a program for their parents about the true meaning of Christmas -- the Bible’s Christmas story. Each child who came received a decorated shoe box filled with small toys and goodies. It was a wonderful feeling to see the children who do not have much appreciate their Christmas boxes and they put on a simple and clear presentation of the Bible story of Christ’s birth.

As I write this we are looking forward to our Church’s Candlelight Christmas Eve service this evening. That is always a time to reflect and build new memories of what Christmas means to me. There are numerous other ways to build Christmas memories for some it is baking cookies to give to others, (and of course do taste testing as they come out of the oven). Sending out Christmas letters it a warm way to connect with family and friends once a year, ( and I mean an actual old fashioned letter not a short tweet). Other activities are to look for local school and church Christmas concerts to enjoy the music of the Season. I am not a big shopper but I know that is something some people just love -- being out in the hustle and bustle of the stores trying to find the best buy. Other people enjoy watching their favorite Christmas movies every Christmas as a tradition. I remember when my mother was still living and I would be home from Chicago to visit her in Ohio, one of her favorite activities was to have me drive her around to look at Christmas lights.

The key is find those Holiday activities you enjoy and when you are feeling the stress; de-stress by switching over to the activities you enjoy. Enjoying the Christmas season and building memories for the future is more important and rewarding than being stressed over everything having to be perfect.

Reflection: List your three favorite Holiday activities. Is there anything new this year you enjoyed that is a new memory for this year’s Christmas Season? Write about it in your journal.

Looking At Life As A Road . . .

This past weekend my family and I were visiting Austin, Texas for the weekend. The Hill Country area of Texas is one of our favorite locations. The highlight of the trip was a Keiko Matsui concert at the One World Theater. About the One World Theater -- if you are in Austin check out this concert venue. The outside has the rustic Hill Country feel to it. Then inside the seating has a casual jazz club feel to the atmosphere. They offer pre-concert dinner packages so a couple or a group of friends can have a full enjoyable evening at their concert venue. Their website is www.oneworldtheatre.org . We did not partake in the dinner package as we were traveling such a distance and busy during the day we weren’t sure we could make dinner there in time.

Moving on to the actual concert, Keiko was showcasing her new CD, The Road… as well as playing some songs from previous recordings. We were looking forward to the concert as it has been over 10 years since my wife and I had heard her live in Chicago. This was also the first time our daughter had heard her live. Keiko did not disappoint our anticipation. She was energetic as always and exuded positive energy in her performing. Her new songs showed her continual growth in creativity. There were new styles mixed in with the familiar styles of her older work. That is what lifelong learning is all about -- continual growth and stretching to create the new. I found a couple of new songs from her CD already posted on YouTube. Check out the song Awakening by clicking on the title and you can enjoy the song. You will like the song so much you will want to purchase her CD at your local music retailer.

The concert was refreshing. Even though I had been sick that week the time in her concert strengthened my body and mind as I mindfully enjoyed listening to her music. She has a knack for having a great band to work with. Each of the players enjoyed what they were playing and are talented musicians each in their own right. I always enjoy a keyboard player who becomes absorbed into their instrument as I can tell the artist is experiencing flow and bringing out the best performance as possible. Keiko is like this and it makes watching and listening to her artistry captivating.

In one of the few times she spoke during the concert she touched on a concept that I want to share with you to ponder and savor in your thinking. She shared that in compiling the CD she was doing personal reflection on her life journey – something I encourage often on this blog. She titled the CD The Road. . . as each of our lives are like a road. Each one of us have a uniquely different road to travel with varying twists and turns. Our roads are made up of our relationships, environments, cultures, belief systems. The most important point she stated was that the true title of the CD focuses on the “Dot, Dot, Dot” as she emphasized the three consecutive periods after the word ”Road”. These simple dots stand for the simple reality that each day of our life our personal Road keeps going on. As with Dr. Krumboltz’s Happenstance theory and Dr. Bright’s Chaos theory, we do not know for sure what is around the bend or over the hill in our Road. But still we travel on. We travel on with positive anticipation for good ahead. Personally for me that is where my faith in God is often the strongest in knowing that He knows what is around each bend. Her sharing her heartfelt thoughts behind the CD helped me in my own personal reflection during the concert and allowed me to enjoy the experience of the concert on a deeper level. If you ever have the opportunity to hear Keiko in concert definitely take that opportunity on your road trip through life.

Reflection:

Take some quiet time with a piece of 8 ½ x11 paper and a pen. Draw a curvy road from the bottom corner to the opposite top corner. Divide the road in 10 year increments going a couple of increments past your present age. Jot down above and below the road key aspects of life that happened to you on that portion of the road. As for the 10 years beyond your present age jot down some dreams you would like to do in the next 10 to 20 years.

The Joy of Enjoying Music

This past weekend I was enjoying the PBS show, Woodsong’s Old Time Radio Show. I have always enjoyed folk and bluegrass music and this show and the website www.woodsongs.com specializes in promoting this music genre. The host was emphasizing the importance of music in our lives as a force for good. Music makes us happier. It brings joy in our daily experience which helps us have a more than ok life. Seek out music in your life to bring more joy into your life journey.

As I did a workshop on Test Anxiety on my campus the other day, I used music to show also the health benefits of music in relaxing and aiding in overcoming anxiety. Music can also act as a motivator to stimulate us to be active. In the workshop I played a song from a Keiko Matsui CD. Her style is contemporary smooth piano jazz. Her music can be very relaxing to listen to. Her music writing is varied and listening to her CD’s over and over I always pick up on new nuances I never heard before. She is one of the most creative pianists I have ever heard. Click on her name here, (Keiko Matsui), to listen to one of her songs.

Even though I played trumpet in High School I always was impressed and enjoyed the saxophone. It can really capture the emotion of the artist playing the saxophone. One of my favorite sax players is Tom Braxton of Texas. He is an amazing player. Click on the hyperlink of his name to listen to one of his videos. Watching and hearing him play you can tell he enjoys communicating joy in his songs. When I hear him in concert I can sense how easily he gets into the flow of his songs and works in tandem with his band. We have enjoyed hearing him at the Corpus Christi Jazz Festival over the past years. I also appreciate he has a deep Christian faith and is not afraid to be open about his beliefs. Part of the flow of his music is that he is worshipping while he is playing which adds to the deep emotion of his performances.

I always try to be open to new artists to keep an open expanding creative mind. Recently we as a family went to a concert locally by the world renown Ahn Trio. They are three sisters from Korea all trained at Julliard. I was a little skeptical at first, as I am not too big of a fan of modern classical music. I prefer the old classics. In their literature they mention that their music is all composed for them by modern composers. I am glad we went. They definitely brought joy into our evening. Their talent and skill on the piano, cello, and violin was breath taking. Click here on The Ahn Trio to hear a sample video of their music.

I encourage you to try to attend a concert of your favorite music artist or go to a concert of someone new to you. Nothing is better than live music with the sight and sounds. Of course you may say your budget just doesn’t allow for that. Then do what my wife and I do sometimes. Put one of your favorite CD’s in the stereo and then sit back in a soft recliner with your eyes closed and imagine you are listening in a concert hall.

Also for enjoying live music on a budget watch for local university student programs that are often free or a low cost. We recently enjoyed a wonderful classical guitar concert of high school guitar ensembles and the University’s guitar ensembles for only $7.00 knowing that the funds were going for music scholarships. Some towns and cities during the Summers offer free music concerts. The free music festivals are one aspect of Chicago we miss.

Try to incorporate more music into your life and see how more joyful your journey is. Building music in your life will increase your own personal creativity levels as well. Think over who are your favorite musicians. Presently my top 5 are:
1. Phil Keaggy
2. Steven Curtis Chapman
3. Tom Braxton
4. Keiko Matsui
5. Michael Card

Reflection:
Think over what does music mean to you? Jot down your top 5 music artists. Take some time out of your busy life to sit in a comfortable chair and listen through one of your favorite CD’s.

The Sound of Music Impacts Our Self-talk

Many will agree that Music has a powerful influence on people. As I am discussing impacts on our self-talk, I want to look at the subject of music. At a music concert whether a classical symphony or a rock concert, there is emotion and power that you can feel in the performance. The power of music can also be seen in the positive effectiveness of Music Therapy which has been used with many different people groups effectively.

Music has been an integral part of my life. When my mom moved my brothers and I, when I was in first grade, into her mother’s house there was a old upright piano in the back living room. Grandmother would regularly play old gospel hymns and old time songs from the 30’s and 40’s. My brother who is very musically talented was able to teach himself piano and memorized numerous classical pieces. I always considered myself too awkward to play the piano so I never attempted it. Musically I followed my older brother’s example of playing trumpet in band through high school. Then in High School I started to play the acoustic guitar, singing and playing in church. Through my personal experience I have seen the effect music can have for the good in inspiring fans during high school football games and emotionally moving hearts and minds in spiritual worship settings.

I believe music can be for the good or bad an influence in our mental programming. I will focus on the positive and there are positive songs of abundance in all genres of music. Classical music and jazz can be a positive influence in relaxing the mind and reducing stress. On of my favorite musicians for smooth jazz is Keiko Matsui, (http://keikomatsui.com ). Her music is often playing in my office as it is very soothing and relaxing for when I am working on reports and getting stressed compiling data.

With vocal music the lyrics can be a positive influence. For example a song I often use at the beginning of a new semester with students is Tracy Chapman’s New Beginning. Listen to this video of Tracy Chapman’s New Beginning video and reflect over her words:

New Beginning by Tracy Chapman
The whole world's broke and it ain't worth fixing It's time to start all over, make a new beginningThere's too much pain, too much suffering Let's resolve to start all over make a new beginningNow don't get me wrong - I love life and living But when you wake up and look around
at everything that's going down -All wrongYou see we need to change it now, this world with too few happy endingsWe can resolve to start all over make a new beginningStart all over Start all over Start all over Start all over

The world is broken into fragments and pieces That once were joined together in a unified wholeBut now too many stand alone - There's too much separation We can resolve to come together in the new beginning

Start all over Start all over Start all over Start all over

We can break the cycle - We can break the chain We can start all over - In the new beginningWe can learn, we can teach We can share -- the myths the dream the prayerThe notion that we can do better Change our lives and paths Create a new world

Start all over Start all over Start all over Start all over

The whole world's broke and it ain't worth fixing It's time to start all over, make a new beginningThere's too much fighting, too little understanding It's time to stop and start all overMake a new beginning

Start all over Start all overStart all over Start all over

We need to make new symbols Make new signsMake a new language With these we'll define the worldAnd start all over Start all over Start all over Start all over ...

From a student standpoint I try to encourage the students to choose some new beginnings for their habits as they begin life at the University. Also Tracy Chapman’s lyrics fit well with the faulty beliefs some people cling to as noted by Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Ever hear people say ,”My world’s too broken, it’s no use trying anything new.” “ No one understands the pain or struggle I am in.” “Everything that happens to me is always wrong.” Those are some faulty self-talk statements the song speaks to. The encouragement is that we can break the cycles of our faulty programming. We can start over again. I like how she says “We can make new symbols, …Make a new language , with these we’ll define the world…” We need to encourage ourselves and others to make new symbols and new language statements for our success and living more than OK.

Think through the music you listen to, what are your favorite songs? Are you choosing music that builds you up. Google the lyrics of your favorite songs and see what the lyricist is saying and how it applies to your life.