It has been about a month since my last Tori Amos post. More importantly, I need a mental health break and regular readers here know that means I need to hear Tori Amos' music!
All of the turmoil lately (see previous post) regarding victimizing endometriosis patients has me very upset!
Tori Amos herself has endometriosis.
When I get upset, I reach for Tori Amos' music! It heals me.
In honor of the winter season we are in, I went searching for a video clip of Tori Amos singing the song "Winter".
Boy, did I find a great one!! This song is 17 years old. You can find it on the Little Earthquakes CD. It's a soothing song and a real treasure for calming down!
-- Tori Amos (musician, singer, songwriter, pianist)
Click here to see the lyrics for this beautiful song, courtesy of Sing365.com
On a much more serious note, Tori is a strong advocate for women. Her work with RAINN: The nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization (One of “America’s 100 Best Charities" — Worth magazine) helps many women!
Here are some statistics about sexual assault...
Statistics from RAINN
By the way, Tori Amos was sexually assaulted and helps women with her support of the RAINN organization.
Related links to my numerous Tori Amos "mental health break" posts are below.
Just click the link to reach post with other links:
Friday, December 5, 2008 Adversity, Challenges, Frustration And The "Secret To Life" According To Tori Amos...
I thought that following a mental health break of Tori's music & lyrics about winter and a much more serious link to the RAINN organization that I would wrap up today's post with a quote.
Here is the Foundation for a Better Life's Quote of the Day
“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”
—Don Williams, Jr. (b. 1968); novelist and poet
Through the twists and turns of your life, try to find time to relax.
At the same time, be aware that there are helpful organizations like RAINN in times of crisis.
If you have been sexually assaulted or abused, seek help!!!
Let's appreciate Tori's gorgeous music AND appreciate her advocacy on behalf of sexually assaulted women.
Related link regarding protecting your personal health information:
WARNING
Ladies, let's protect ourselves from harm. Protect your personal information!!
This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.
14 comments:
(((Hugs)))
(((Hugs back to you)))
I do love some Tori Amos. I hope it was just what you needed today!
Glad you like Tori too!
Tori ALWAYS helps me feel better!!!
She is at the top of my list of coping mechanisms!!
It was such a thrill to meet her in person in 2007...
Jeanne
Stopping by with l♥ve and Hugs for you!
Thanks for coming by, Jeanne. I really appreciate the support you are giving with your blog. I think It's great that you are trying to do some good as a means of coping with the copious trials you've been given. I think looking outward helps us--if not physically, at least emotionally!
Good luck to you
Mina,
Thanks for the visit! I am commenting on your blog now and your comment here just popped in! (Multi-tasking... gotta love it).
Thanks for your support of my blog. We talk about many health topics and I throw in some art, music, and quotes for good measure to lighten things up from the medical posts!
I have learned a great deal in 7 months of blogging. It's nice to use my time (disabled) to help others and turn my adversity into a positive.
I try to share what helps me in the hope that it'll help others.
Back to your blog. One more comment to reach the 5 for your contest!
Jeanne
P.S. I don't have a contest yet for my 200th post but feel free to leave more comments on my blog!
♥♥♥
You are awesome!
Hey, Jeanne, I saw YOUR comment on the Good Deeds blog--glad you found it, it's a great blog--and thanks for your kind words! (the word verifier word is consol--I swear there is a little genie who lives in the word verifier section of the computer)
You should know! You're pretty awesome yourself!!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Have a great night!
{{hugs}}
Jeanne
Hey Heidi!
Welcome!
Those pictures on Good Deeds are just amazing!!! The music is great too!
I read on one of the blogs I've seen you on since yesterday that you have fibro. I've blogged a lot about it and I have it myself. So hopefully something on my blog will be helpful to you!!
I'm glad you found my blog and hope you come back again real soon!
Jeanne ♥
Heidi,
I looked at your profile...
Are you on the "team" for Good Deeds??
That Rockies picture is just stunning!
Have a great night!
Jeanne :)
Never knew Tori Amos has Endo.
Music is healing to the soul. It's uplifting and stirs the imagination for good.
I thrive on it for energy like a bandage that wraps around my body and renews my inner core, bringing me back from the brink of exhaustion.
My songs of choice are Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 or 9 (Ode to Joy).
Endochick,
Yes. I didn't know she had endo either until I read the autobiography she wrote.
^^^
Readers
{Quick commercial break:
This book "Tori Amos: Piece by Piece" is available on Amazon. Just click one of my Amazon ads to be routed to an ordering screen for all things Amazon.
End of commercial}
^^^
Anyway, back to my reply to Endochick...
Yes, music is so incredibly powerful! It really is healing. When I am going through my most challenging, painful, stressful times, I turn to music to pull me through.
One of the reasons I occasionally blog about Tori is her music has helped me through so much.
A few months back, I had installed a music player in my blog's sidebar with a wide variety of music (including Tori, of course).
I wanted readers to have the opportunity to listen to something (in some cases that they might not have otherwise listened to) because it might make them feel better as it does for me!
Music can definitely stir up the imagination and uplift as you mentioned!
Sometimes I will hear a song I've heard countless times and then stop to really listen to the lyrics... only to be blown away by the words that were sitting there the whole time. Sometimes I get caught up in the catchy melody and don't catch the words at first.
When I get a new CD, I love to sit down for a first listen with the liner notes in hand... reading the words while I'm listening.
There are often so many different meanings wrapped in the lyrics or there are wordings that I take a completely different way one time than another simply based on what mood I was in when I heard/read it.
Finding hidden meanings in song lyrics fascinates me. Some musical artists have such amazing lyrics that I can listen to a song 10 times and hear 10 different stories.
Tori is my favorite for so many reasons. I think the biggest reason I connect with her music is that she is genuine, she cares about people, she is passionate, she is authentic/true to herself, she doesn't let people tell her what to say/what not to say, and she doesn't care what people think of her as long as she is following her heart and doing what is right for her. She cares deeply about her family, peace, her fans, the planet, etc. All of this pours out of her music for me. Her music literally helps me feel better.
One time my blood pressure got very high and two of my doctors were talking about sending me to the ER.
I threw on a Tori CD, turned off the lights, focused intently on deep breathing exercises, meditated... and within less than 2 hours my blood pressure had gotten down to almost normal. (My doctors were not thrilled at my reluctance to go to the ER. Once I made it clear that I was going to try to get my blood pressure down in my own way and they could see there was no talking me into the ER at that point, they gave me a "deadline" by which I needed by BP to be a certain number. If I didn't get it down by then, I was to call the urgent care center to make an appointment to go straight in before they closed. (My doctor knows I have had my share of ER trips over the years and that I did NOT want to have an ER visit)!
I had that deadline in mind when I began my "Tori-meditation". I had my blood pressure machine next to me and took it periodically to check my progress. The numbers kept going down, down, down.
By the time my husband got home from work an hour away (thinking he was about to drive me to the urgent care center or ER), I had met the "deadline". I had averted a trip to the ER simply by meditating and listening to Tori!
[Readers... I am not advocating disregarding medical advice! If your blood pressure is really high and you have doctors telling you to head to the ER, I am not telling you to do what I did. I am just recounting what worked for me].
Anyway, I still had to be put on medication for my blood pressure after that but I was able, at least, to avoid the ER. With my ER history over the years (including a couple of times I almost died), I knew going there would definitely raise my blood pressure! So I did what I felt I had to do to lower it on my own (however temporary my method might have been) to tide me over until I could get in to see my doctor.
(This was late on a Friday afternoon and I meditated to Tori a lot that weekend)!
The BP kept climbing gradually back up when I would stand up too long or between my Tori-meditation sessions but it was empowering to know that I had some control over it!
On a practical level, I knew I could not have these wonderful Tori-meditation sessions on and off all day every day but it got me through the weekend until I could see my PCP on Monday morning.
Music is powerful.
Like you, I find that music does "renew my inner core". It replenishes energy, improves my mood (calms me when I'm agitated, lifts me up when I'm too down), etc.
Music brings me back when I get exhausted too. That is exactly where I was at when I wrote this post. I was totally exhausted and drained and upset. By the time I had written this post, I had more energy, felt better overall, and had done something productive in the process... all with a little help from Tori. :)
I totally love the Beethoven choices you mentioned. We went to see the local symphony a couple of summers ago. It was my daughter’s first real concert and she dressed up with a matching hat and dress, carried a purse, and wore her fancy shoes. My piano-playing daughter was in heaven.
They played in an amphitheater. We were in regular seats but the lawn was packed behind us.
It was a gorgeous night. It was warm with a slight breeze. No one was smoking in this “no smoking” amphitheater that actually enforced its own no smoking rules. (Smoke can ruin many events for me with my MCS... even forcing me to leave early from places I paid to get in... like concerts)!!
One of the songs they played that night was Beethoven's 5th.
As many times as I have heard that famous piece, on this listening was different (better)!
We had perfect seats. You could see the conductor's sweat flying off his brow. You could see the intense emotion on the musician's faces. You could FEEL the music!
I still have chills when I think about it. I have chills right now. It was so beautiful and so powerful.
The music just took me away. I felt like I was awake and present there… but somehow elevated to another place too.
The music healed me that night. It really did.
The fresh air, warm air, slight breeze, perfect temperature, lack of cigarette smoke, and the music just healed me!
That was an amazing experience.
Two years ago, I went to my daughter’s piano recital. First there was my daughter’s tear-inducing performance that literally had people coming up to us afterwards wanting to know how long she’s been playing (she’s 8 years old now & started piano at 4). She does not mess around and I was very proud)!
At the same recital, there was a teenage prodigy (a fellow student of my daughter - who now attends a music school instead of the local public high school) at the keys playing a very complicated Chopin piece.
The music teacher had to turn the pages for her. The song was about 6 pages long. The book looked like an antique - with yellow pages and curled paper edges… and the musical notes on the page were in tiny font like I had never seen before. I had never seen anything quite like it.
Anyway, I found myself weeping while she played this Chopin piece. It was some sort of sonata or sonatina. I’d have to check our videotape of the recital to tell you the name of the piece.
It was the strangest thing with the weeping. I was just weeping tears of joy. She was playing about 15 feet in front of me. I had the closest seat there because we got there early to set up the video camera on a tripod and record the recital to make a DVD for everyone of it. I had never been that close to a piano that sounded quite like that. (My 3rd row seats for Tori a couple of years back were as close as I'll ever get to see her play)!!
Anyway, I was close enough that I could easily see the pages of music for the Chopin. (With Tori, I couldn’t see quite as well.. even though row 3 is pretty darn good)!
So I was weeping during this Chopin song and I couldn't stop. At first I tried to stop crying. Then I didn't really care what the people around me thought - in this small room that the piano teacher uses as a studio. I just stopped the urge to suppress my tears and gave myself permission to cry.
I went through many tissues during that song!
I'm a big piano fan. I took lessons as a child but was never very good at it. We have a piano in my house now and I can't hear it often enough. When my daughter plays, it just amazes me that a child can play like she does! I just love the piano.
So whether its watching Tori playing piano from the 3rd row (30 minutes after meeting her!) or watching a local teenager tackling a Chopin piece or listening to my daughter play a new piece in lessons, I have so much respect for the practice, talent, and hard work that goes into being able to play the piano well! It just amazes me. I know how hard it was for me. To watch others play seemingly effortlessly just blows me away.
Endochick, I hope I can find a clip of Beethoven's 5th to post because you have inspired me to look for one now. If I can't find a clip, maybe you can help me search the Internet. :)
Seriously, music CAN heal! That's why I occasionally post about music and have music references in my sidebar. Music helps me to fell better on the days when I REALLY need it!
Besides, I need a break from strict “medical blogging” once in awhile.
Thank you for the reminder that I need to find me some Beethoven today! :)
P.S. I played ‘Ode to Joy’ in the 4th grade on violin but I will never be a violinist! I had to move my bow up and down to the beat because my horrible playing would have distracted the others in the back row of the 2nd string violins!! :) My daughter was assigned a simple version of ‘Ode to Joy’ on the piano last year. I went from hating it (from when I had to fake playing it on violin in 4th grade and risk being “discovered” to be faking) to loving it when I saw my daughter play it on piano. :)
Jeanne
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