Something magical going on . . .

I can hardly wait to share this unexpected treat!
A good friend of mine in Ohio sent me a report from her local news-station.  The theme is dementia and, believe it or not, it's positively uplifting.

The fear of dementia would seem to haunt the future like a spectre.  We cannot avoid old age, but what does it hold in store?
According to recent records, the life-span of those living in the western world has increased by a decade over the past century.
But what does this extended life-span have to offer?
Without our memories  . . . without our dreams . . . who are we . . . ?

According to this report, which includes a moving video, if we're to be successful in combating dementia one of the answers lies with sound.  It's sound, not words, that's all-powerful.

This resonates with my own experience.  Each week I take my cat, Chloe, to visit patients at our local nursing home, one of whom suffers from severe dementia.

Chloe, who always rises to the occasion, greets each patient with a polite, "Miaow!".  It's deeply touching for me, and any staff on duty, to witness the dementia sufferer's reaction to this greeting.
Her eyes open and focus, a smile of pure delight spreads over her face, and a frail hand is lifted up in an effort to touch Chloe's fur.

It's the sound of the "Miaow!" that works the magic, not any words of mine.

You may well be more knowledgeable than me.  You may already know of the extraordinary power that sound, specifically music, holds in firing parts of the brain undamaged by dementia.
Whether or not you're familiar with the science, you cannot fail to be moved by the video in this report.

I would love to think that it will be circulated widely in care homes and nursing homes.  I would love to believe that, in consequence, musical instruments will be made available to those who, at the moment, do little more than spend their days gazing unseeingly at the unceasing flow of images on their television screens.


I would also like to hope that it might be shown in schools and colleges.  Nothing could demonstrate more powerfully the need for music in childhood . . . the need for children to experience the joy of making music for themselves.   Whilst schools urge their students to write, calculate and debate, the demands of an over-crowded time-table sometimes means that music is pushed to the side-lines.

Words can illustrate our individuality and ability, but they can also bring discord and division.
It's music that brings us together . . . and it's the music of our youth that stays with us throughout our lives.

Let me end by quoting the words of a participant in this video,  "I think," she says, "we've got something rather magical going on . . . "
It is magic . . . deeply moving magic.
Click here to experience the magic for yourself:

A dose of optimism . . .

Wouldn't you say that, in many ways, it's been a challenging week?
So many of the certainties of the past seem to have transformed into uncertainties in the present.

Exhausted migrants, fleeing war and deprivation, stream into Europe . . . fierce fires, destroying acres of forest, surge across California . . . China's currency is devalued causing a wave of international concern . . . Greece struggles to recover.

This is all true.  There's no doubt that it's true.
But it's also what the media has chosen to tell us . . .  which is usually bad news.  We're offered a dark and often distorted picture.

'What bleeds leads' would seem to be the maxim.
But whereas blood and trauma may well grab the headlines, those same headlines can also have the effect of bleeding us . . . bleeding us of vitality and hope.

Wouldn't you agree that we need a nourishing diet of news that's optimistic and positive?  Something to help us cope with the influx of disasters.

We need a clear light to  be shed on the picture . . . and it isn't as hard to find as some might think.
May I recommend a tonic which I take daily?
It's a dose of the international online newspaper, 'The Optimist Daily'.

Founded in 1995 to counter negativity in mainstream journalism, it now produces an inspirational daily bulletin from its twin headquarters in Rotterdam and San Francisco.
Click here if you feel the need for a boost of invigorating good news and common sense.

Did you know, for instance, that India has just unveiled the world's first airport to operate entirely on solar power?  Or that an organic farmer in California has found a way to produce more and better vegetables whilst using less water?  Or that Sri Lanka is thinking of floating giant balloons high above the clouds to obtain cheap, nation-wide internet access?

See what good news is being concealed in the shadows.


But it's not merely a question of being optimistic, and looking for the positive.
I sometimes think I'd be wise to follow Chloe's lead . . . to relish in the joys of the present moment.

Untroubled by human activity in the wider world, she concentrates on the offerings of her immediate vicinity.

After all,  what could be better for body and soul than a satisfying breakfast, an enjoyable walk . . . and the exciting rustle of mice in the ivy?