Browse Category: Spirituality

The Psychology of Spring

Spring is here. This is the first full East Coast spring I have experienced since I moved from Pennsylvania to California in 2005. As you may know if you know me or have followed by blog, after living in northern and central California for 17 years, I moved back to Pennsylvania in July 2022. It’s been a big adjustment in many ways, some of them difficult, but the spring has brought me a lot of happiness and hope, despite some tough personal and national events. The experience of the transition from winter to spring is something I had forgotten about. In the parts of California where I lived, it felt like perpetual spring–it rarely got below 50 during the day and was rarely above 75. There was often sunshine, and flowers bloomed everywhere. True, there was little rain, but in other ways, it was spring-like much of the time. I never took for granted the mild climate and natural beauty of California, but living there, I did lose touch with how wonderful the change from winter to spring can be.

Now that I am back in Pennsylvania and lived through winter, my least favorite season (although thankfully, it was not a very cold winter this year), I remember how amazing the spring feels. The shift from darker to lighter days, the soft rains, the sudden exuberance of forsythia bushes and daffodils and cherry blossoms, the golden-green haze of leaves starting to sprout on the trees–it’s so magical.

As a psychologist, I often work with people who get depressed in the winter. Even in California, the land of perpetual spring, a lot of the clients I treated would start to get more down when the time changed in fall and begin to feel better come March or April. There, it was mainly the daylight that played a role. But here, it’s not just the longer days that can give us a mood boost, it’s also the warmer weather and emergence of flowers and tree buds. I would not say I get depressed in winter, but I definitely feel lower, less energetic, and at times a little stir-crazy when it’s too dark or cold to enjoy the outdoors. Spring brings more comfort and safety to being outside after work hours. It allows for more enjoyment of getting out and about, being more active. The switch from the browns and grays of winter to the brighter colors of the season stimulates the eyes and the emotions.

Spring is a season of rebirth (especially here in the northeast and other places with four distinct seasons), with the plants coming back to life after the dormancy and death of winter. Many animals give birth. People begin planting flower gardens and getting ready to plant vegetables that will grow throughout the spring and summer. Throughout written history, humans have seen this time of year as one that brings feelings of hope. Christians observe Easter as the celebration of new life and resurrection. Jews celebrate Passover, which acknowledges liberation from oppression. Muslims participate in Ramadan, which calls for self-reflection and sacrifice, then Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates gratitude and blessings. There is an element of starting anew in all of these religious holidays.

It’s harder to feel hopeful at the moment with many of the things happening in the United States and the world. It’s painful to see more and more gun violence, more crime, and the erosion of rights for LGBTQ people. It’s difficult to be mired in this era of division and polarization. The past month has also brought some losses to me, friends and family, and therapy clients. But seeing the renewal of spring reminds me that change can happen, growth can happen, and life does go on.

Spring makes it easier for me to engage in one of my favorite self-care activities: walking and hiking in nature. I plan to make the most of the mild days and sunshine, as well as my boost in energy and mood. It’s easier to face the pain and challenges of life when the sun is out and the flowers are blooming.

Tis a Fearful Thing


by Yehuda Halevi (1075–1141)

‘Tis a fearful thing
to love what death can touch.
A fearful thing
to love, to hope, to dream, to be–
to be,
And oh, to lose.
A thing for fools, this,
And a holy thing,
a holy thing
to love.
For your life has lived in me,
your laugh once lifted me,
your word was gift to me.
To remember this brings painful joy.
‘Tis a human thing, love,
a holy thing, to love
what death has touched.

In memory of my mother, Martha “Penny” Davis, born September 1940 and died September 2020.

“Amazing Grace,” Amazing Aretha, and Gospel Music

Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace album

The Film

Whether you are religious or not, the documentary Amazing Grace will touch your soul. The film shows a two-night live gospel performance that Aretha Franklin did in 1972 in Watts’ New Temple Missionary Baptist Church. Even as a non-religious person, I could not argue with a statement made by Aretha’s father, Reverend Franklin, that her voice was a gift from God. And, what a gift!

When Aretha did this performance, she was already a superstar, with 11 number one singles and five Grammys. With this show and live album, she returned to her roots a gospel singer. (The Grammy-winning album also became the biggest selling disc of Aretha’s entire recording career as well as the highest selling live gospel music album of all time.) Aretha sang with the incredible Southern California Community Choir (directed by Alexander Hamilton) and gospel legend Reverend James Cleveland. On both nights of filming, the church was packed with people, including a few celebrities such as gospel superstar Clara Ward, who was a primary influence on Aretha Franklin. Ward was introduced by Cleveland and given a seat of honor in the front row. The audience on night two also included Mick Jagger and Ron Wood, who sat anonymously in the back and clapped along with the rest of the fans.

Aretha Franklin singing with the Southern California Community Choir. Still from the movie Amazing Grace.
Aretha Franklin singing with the Southern California Community Choir. Rev. Cleveland is behind Franklin and to her right. Still from the movie Amazing Grace.
James Cleveland album cover

Although the show occurred and was filmed in 1972, the movie was not put together for many years and was not released until late 2018. This is because the live footage, shot by Sydney Pollack and his crew, couldn’t be synced with sound due to a major technical mistake. So, the footage sat in a vault for 35 years before producer Alan Elliott decided to take a stab at making it movie-ready. With Pollack’s death in 2008 and legal delays, it took another 11 years for the film to be finished.

The History of Gospel Music

The friend who saw Amazing Grace with me noted how gospel is at the root of many forms of American music, yet the majority of influential gospel musicians never got much fame or fortune. Gospel has its origins in the music of Africans who were brought to North America as slaves and indentured servants in the 1600s: Africans’ emphasis on call and response, improvisation, polyrhythms, and percussion formed the basis of gospel (among other forms of music). George Leile established the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia, the oldest Black church in North America, in 1777. However, as early as the late 1600s, Africans were being converted to Christianity, and many were fond of British Christian hymns (especially those written by Isaac Watts).

By the 1800s, African American innovation in religious music began to distinguish itself in the forms of spirituals, shouts, lined-hymns, and anthems. After slavery was abolished in America, The Fisk Jubilee Singers (organized as a fundraising effort for Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee) went on an international tour and became the first African American religious singing group to become well known.

The early 1900s saw the birth of religious revivals, whose energetic music was key to the development of gospel music. Early gospel stars included Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1930s and ’40s and Mahalia Jackson and groups like Swan Silvertones, the Caravans, and the Original Gospel Harmonettes in the 1940s through the ’60s (The Golden Age of Gospel). Perhaps the most important group in popularizing gospel outside of churches was the Clara Ward Singers.

Mahalia Jackson c. 1962, photographed by Carl Van Vechten
Mahalia Jackson, 1962, photographed by Carl Van Vechten.
Gospel legend Clara Ward, 1970.
Clara Ward, 1970.

“Oh Happy Day” was recorded in 1967 by the Northern California State Youth Choir (later dubbed the Edwin Hawkins Singers). This song almost single-handedly created the genre of contemporary gospel. Key figures in this movement included Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, the Winans, and the Clark Sisters. Reverend James Cleveland and Mattie Moss Clark helped give rise to the movement by their tireless work composing, arranging, and recording for large choirs.

The Psychology of Music

Many have written on the psychological impact music has on our emotions and well-being. Some research has shown that the structure of music can effect how we interpret and feel about messages in the lyrics (Seidel & Prinz, 2013; Sinclair et al., 2007). Researchers have also found that listening to religious music can improve the mental health of older adults (Bradshaw et al., 2015). It seems that the structure, lyrics, and cultural and spiritual associations of music all have a great impact on our psychology. As neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote,

“Humans are uniquely able to produce and enjoy music—very few other animals can do so. But not only is music one of the fundamental ways we bond with each other, it literally shapes our brains. Perhaps this is so because musical activity involves many parts of the brain (emotional, motor, and cognitive areas), even more than we use for our other great human achievement, language.”

Final Thoughts

Music is a powerful form of expression that taps into our emotions and can stir our soul. If you love music, love Aretha Franklin, love gospel, or just want to be inspired and moved, you should definitely see Amazing Grace. It’s an experience.

References

This post references the USC Libraries Digital Library website for its Gospel Music History Archive, including a timeline of the history of gospel.

Bradshaw, M., et al. (2015). Listening to religious music and mental health in later life. The Gerontologist, Volume 55, Issue 6, December 2015, Pages 961–971.

Seidel A., Prinz J. (2013). Sound morality: irritating and icky noises amplify judgments in divergent moral domains. Cognition 127, 1–5.

Sinclair R., Lovsin T., Moore S. (2007). Mood state, issue involvement, and argument strength on responses to persuasive appeals. Psychol. Rep. 101, 739–753.

“Wired for Sound,” by Oliver Sacks, MD. (2008). Oprah.com website.https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oliver-sacks-finds-the-bond-between-music-and-our-brains/all

Meditation of Music: A Performance by Estas Tonne

Photo of Estas Tonne

A friend invited me to see a performance by mystical guitarist Estas Tonne last night. I was not quite sure what to expect. I had not heard of Tonne until recently, and my only exposure (after hearing about the show) was listening to a few of Tonne’s tracks through the iTunes store. My friend had informed me that Tonne’s show would be “a spiritual journey.” She was correct.

Tonne, a virtuoso on the guitar, started the night by lighting incense, haloed by bright spotlights above him, alone, on the stage. He took a few deep breaths, looked around, and cautioned the audience that we should not expect anything in particular. We should not expect to hear “songs” or see a show. He informed us that the music would be like “… a train. Prepare to let the music take you places, and allow your mind to travel where it will. Your mind may visit memories that are pleasant, or some that are not.” He then proceeded to play the guitar, nonstop, for about two hours.

It’s hard to adequately describe what this experience was like, but the closest I could come is to call it a loosely guided meditation. I am by no means a regular meditator, but I have done it, and I am familiar with the struggles our Western, busy, minds have with letting go of familiar thinking patterns and predictable paths. It’s not easy to quiet the mind and let go. During the one hundred and twenty minutes of Tonne’s seamless solo guitar-playing, my mind followed peaceful loops and troubled snarls. This was unlike any other “show” I had experienced: There was no program to follow and no interlude of artist chit-chat or audience applause to punctuate the various directions in which Tonne’s guitar took us.

Tonne’s music fluidly combines flamenco, New Age, Eastern European, and electronic elements and bathes the listener in a beautiful and ever-changing soundscape. In some ways, this was an enjoyably easy experience that transported me to many places in my mind’s past, present, and future. At the same time, the show was challenging in its structurelessness. There were moments when I longed for some narrative or a break in the music to provide a more familiar performer-listener dynamic. But, ultimately, I was moved and deeply impressed by Tonne’s skill, endurance, and spiritual earnestness. Other than the brief introduction and a few parting words, the only other verbal interaction Tonne had with us was some thoughtful philosophizing near the end of the journey, during which he spoke of how people, broken into billions of pieces, need to find ways of putting themselves back together. It was obvious that this performance was a sort of spiritual meditation for Tonne. I emerged, changed.