SUNDAY NIGHT SLIDES
SUNDAY NIGHT SLIDES
I've forever been fascinated by the power of music and its ability to transport our whole souls to another place, another time, and even another dimension in the right environments, with the right people and under the wrong right influences(!)
Music moves my mental state and it can evoke emotions at the drop of a beat, straight outta nowhere, without conscious control. Most of my deep work is done with headphones on, distraction-free, to repetitive lyric-less beats.
But as a man, like the majority of millennial men around my age, I haven't grown up with emotional fluency as part of my language of communication from paternal influences and because of societal expectation of masculine behaviour.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
It's important to note that, whilst harnessing testosterone for high performance can be a positive power to behold, this can often lead to stunted emotional maturity and, in extreme cases where substance abuse or trauma has been experienced during early developmental ages, a diagnosis of Immature Personality Disorder (IPD) occurs; with behaviours showing a low tolerance of stress and anxiety, the inability to accept personal responsibility and the reliance on age-inappropriate defence mechanisms (denial, repression and projection).
This is probably why I find myself, in certain moods, tuning into music for the key to experiencing feelings that I'd otherwise struggle to express healthily or explore deeply. And because of its intrinsic link with emotions, breathwork has the connective ability to do this too, as does some meditation practices. But all-too-often we turn to the easier, over-romanticised, self-destructive vices like boozing, gambling or dominant displays of aggression towards others.
A damn shame.
From the slow-lows of melancholia to the faster highs of euphoria, listening to music as it stimulates the temporal lobe and electrifies different parts of my brain (read: how the brain responds to music) will forever feel like a novel experience as music tastes develop.
I can't even listen to some songs because they elicit such strong sad sentiments and there are others I can't stop listening to on repeat because of the state of or entrancement they induce, every time.
Yet on the other hand, a common symptom of clinical depression is what's known as 'anhedonia' (an-hedon-ia) meaning 'without pleasure', whereby a person cannot physically experience the joyfulness of music and other endeavours that would once have been otherwise enjoyed.
Much like our musical tastes are influenced by early exposure, the role models and identity groups we associate with, our belief systems are similarly stable in that sense.
Early exposure to certain beliefs that are perceived truths at the time can become outdated with newfound knowledge, research, shifting cultural norms and updated societal expectations.
And because beliefs are relatively stable over time and perpetuated by Confirmation Bias (the psychological tendency to interpret and recall information in a way that confirms our prior beliefs), it spells trouble for inter-generational feuds.
Plenty of which we're seeing play out presently with political division, pandemic handling and progressive identities.
Most neurologists agree that the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain right at the front that's commonly associated with planning, decision making, personality expression and moderating social behaviour) is fully developed by the age of 25. And as the brain becomes more rigid in plasticity, it becomes naturally harder to develop new skills with age. There will always be exceptions to the rule, but by this point, we've appear to have figured out our world views and recognised the patterns that resonate most with us.
Two key elements that make up a person's ability to adapt well to change are their Mental Flexibility (the ability to hold two or more opposing views loosely at one time) and their ability to Unlearn (the opposite of stubborn, being able to let go of out-dated knowledge and accept new knowledge that is more relevant).
Research conducted on adaptability to change shows that as we age, we become progressively worse at practicing those two key elements. Which explains a lot.
Differing tastes in music, no matter how eclectic, is a classic example of how our individual and social group expressions can be opposing in genre but still sonically appreciated.
And if that mindset is applied to other aspects of life then I for one can see a more tolerant world that is able to:
"Share our similarities and celebrate our differences." – M. Scott Peck, Psychiatrist & Best-Selling Author
Charlie
FEATURED SLIDE
FINAL THOUGHTS 💭
In memory of Josh Taylor ❤️