singing as healing

Hello, reader.  How are you?  I’ve been thinking of singing as healing.  I want to tell you about it.

I knew for a long time that signing is a way to feel better, connect with other people, comfort goats while milking, move energy, give love to a space like the goddess temple, worship the divine, share truth, do art.  But it occurred to me suddenly yesterday that maybe it’s like a cat purrs.  Maybe the vibrations heal the body too.

valid

What do you think?  Do you like to sing?  Many people tie singing in with ego and are afraid to sing when others can hear–they’re afraid of judgement.

As for me, I think my voice is not horrible, but not the voice of an angel either.  Like all of me, it’s valid and ok.  It works as a voice.  It’s just me.

And life’s too short to worry about other people judging my voice as not good enough.  I’m going to sing, and it’s ok if people hear me.

Singing is such a human thing to do, and I won’t let anyone take that away from me.  It’s a bird thing to do too, and I heard a rumor that whales sing.  Do coyotes sing, when they howl?  How about dogs?  Cats when they are fighting or mating?  The wind, as it passes through?

Maybe many creatures and forces sing.  I’m happy to be a singing creature.

content warning: burn victim pain mention

A long time ago–maybe two decades ago–I read about burn victims reporting less pain when their dressings are changed, if they sing.  That fact has stayed with me and influenced me.  The hospital can be a horrible place.  I hate what I learned there, when I had that stomach ulcer bleed that almost killed me.

There are animal things we can do to help our health, like reduce our pain.  But mainstream medicine likes pills, right?  If you can’t make money off it, it doesn’t matter.  If it can’t be measured it’s suspect.

Also I read long ago that when someone has memory problems, they can lose their ability to talk, but they can still sing.  Maybe the language of song is stored somewhere different than the language of speech.

And I read a cat’s purr is healing to bodies and can make broken bones knit together faster.  Did you ever hear that one?  The vibration is healing.  Don’t ask me how.  But it seems like classic singing as healing.

So I’m putting two and two together for you, reader.  Healing is mysterious.  I was sick, and I got some sun on the rental porch.  Then I danced for the first time in days, which felt great.  I decided to sing also, to try out my singing as healing cat purr theory.

Did I get all the way magically better?  No, not yet.  Still sick, but my mood is good at the moment.

humming

I’m working on it.  My high school best friend criticized me for humming all the time.  Yes, humming is halfway to singing, maybe singing as healing.  I was stimming.  Comfort is important, in all the forms I can get it.

I annoyed that bestie.  Not sure if I’m sorry.  She annoyed me in a few ways too, like when she almost killed me on a bridge that one time.

Glad I survived to be your friend even now, reader.

wholesome

Trying to look less wholesome, I took this selfie in bed.

Trying to look less wholesome, I think I just looked pissed off.

“You don’t look pissed off,” Ming said.

Yes, he would know.  He has seen me pissed off more than any other person.