Page 2 - MidWeek - March 10, 2021

2 MIDWEEK MARCH 10, 2021
Now, that might sound astonishing and prove just how truly awful this pandemic has been in one more way, but what if these people aren’t having sex anyway these days? They really wouldn’t be “suffering” then, would they? And what if these eager-to-travel abstainers would also give up sex for a new Pez dispenser or a nice pair of slippers?
It has been said, “Music can heal the wounds that medicine cannot touch.”
Music provides many teachable moments. Per- sonally, I have found that music can soothe me during moments of anxiety and can calm me in times of upset. I have also found that Beetho- ven was right: to play music without passion is inexcus- able. That notion has ignited my own commitment, not only to play the piano with passion, but to find every op- portunity to live exuberantly.
A full 20% of those surveyed said they’d dump their partner for a chance to go road tripping right now. Ap- parently, for some, that’s what quarantine and stasis do to one’s priorities. Eighty percent of all respondents con- sider travel to be a vital part of a quality life. Of course, after being cooped up for so long, even a trip to get your wisdom teeth pulled might feel like a big day out.
As a 16-year-old pianist, I have discovered a profound gratitude for the healing joy that music can bring. They, and I, find nourishment in the healing power of music.
Ronald Price was a music professor at an Illinois Univer- sity. He suffered from cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s, but he discovered that when playing the harp for several hours a day, his symptoms lessened and even temporarily subsid- ed. Professor Price formed a therapeutic group called Heal- ing Harps, and it eventually
But here’s part two: The U.S. Department of Transpor- tation recently announced that even with limited travel, 2020 represented a new high bar for complaints against airlines and travel agencies. Ninety percent of the griev- ances were about refunds (and lack thereof), as obviously there were multiple pitfalls when traveling last year.
Oliver Sacks, a renowned neurologist, once wrote, “Music can lift us out of de- pression or move us to tears — it is a remedy, a tonic,
programs.
If you’re willing to forego sex for a year to travel, you better be in a good mood when travel plans get screwed up and you can’t get a refund. And it’s obvious that for some vacationers who just must go, a delayed or denied refund is worth the risk when it comes to traveling during a pandemic. How big is travel? Well, a quarter of Ameri- cans say they’d give up all of their savings to hit the road right now and 48% would give up their job to travel. But you might not want to come back, because now you’re broke! Abstinence and sacrifice — it all makes sense after being forced to watch Bridgerton and The Crown repeatedly. Just kidding.
KELLEY
Proclaiming That Music Is Medicine
— William Shakespeare
Oliver Sacks once called music “a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.”
ATrippin’ Out
As I walk onto the stage of the concert hall, I’m well aware this isn’t just any perfor- mance. I’m at Kuakini hos- pital, and as I look out over the sea of faces in front of me, I see an audience made up of patients recuperating from pain and illness. Some are in wheelchairs, some are ambu- latory, but all are waiting.
forming has been to joyously witness transformation in my own life and transformation in the audiences for whom I perform. And so I proclaim, “Music is indeed medicine!”
Salena Ohta is a Universi- ty Lab School student. She is a three-time recipient of the Holomua Award in social studies and multimedia year- book and science, and a four- time recipient of the “Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu Award” in visual arts, English, Hawaiian lan- guage and science. These awards acknowledge a com- mitment to excellence and a profound passion in Uni- versity Laboratory School’s
s Monty Python’s John Cleese so often said, “And now for something completely differ- ent.”
Trivago, an online accommodations booking site, re- cently polled 2,000 adults in the United States and found that 38% of Americans would give up sex for a year if they could travel right now. I kid you not.
I start to play Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major and some- thing fully magical happens. The cares and worries etched on these patients’ faces dis- solve as joyous music sweeps over them. By the end of the piece, a beatific radiance on their faces replaces their cares of the day.
orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more — it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a lux- ury, but a necessity.”
grew into almost 400 groups across the United States. Some of the participants had severe disabilities, but they found benefit and relief from playing this music daily.
“Music can ... cleanse ... all perilous stuff that weighs upon the heart.”
The gift of all of these years of practicing and per-
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
Plenty of Americans say no sex, no savings, no partner and no job beats yet another month or three of homebound isolation. Travel is part of the good life, they say, but with no sex, job, savings or partner after the sojourn ends, you’d better have some great memories to live on.
Think about it ...
CHASING THE
LIGHT
with Salena Ohta
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com