I hope you are all having a lovely start to the week!
Today, Monday 21st June 2021, is World Music Day 2021!! This special day is an annual celebration of music, which originates in France back in 1981, where it was named “Fête de la Musique”.
Normally this day is celebrated by musicians performing in the streets & in concerts, but I like to look at the day a little bit differently. Instead, I am going to be using today to reflect over the role that music has played in my life! So, let’s get on with it!
2020 was a massive year for me, and yet, despite all of the highs and lows experienced in those 12 months, one of my key takeaways from the year would be the lessons that I learned throughout my 2020 Stuttering Journey. My Stutter has played a very large role in all of my life, I wouldn’t ever say that wasn’t the case, but 2020 seemed to be a year in which everything that happened, seemed to link back to that topic, my Speech and my Self-Confidence.
On Saturday 31st October, I was asked to be a special guest on a brand new podcast, called “26 minutes with”, which has been created by Respect Mental Health and the amazing Benjamin Seal. It was an honour to be asked to e the first guest for the show and we are going to be taking a bit of a closer look at the podcast in today’s blog!
Being a part of a podcast has been something that I have always wanted to do in life, however, due to my Stutter, I always thought that this dream was out of my reach, but now I have proved myself wrong! This week I starred in an episode of the “It Starts with Action” podcast, where I talk about a large array of different things, and is going to be what today’s blog is about!
Podcasts are a form of media that are constantly growing and becoming a major part of people’s lives, and I for one absolutely love seeing new podcasts spring out! As t, why don’t we use podcasts as a way to escape the boredom and panic created by the Coronavirus pandemic. That’s what we’ll be looking at in today’s “Ideas for Lockdown” post!
Music is a form of media that connects so many of us in our day to day lives. Music helps us escape from the real world and to express ourselves in our own way. As Lockdown is adding a lot of stress and panic to peoples lives, we are going to explore the difference that listening to music can make in today’s “Ideas for Lockdown” blog!
Music – one of the biggest art forms in the world is, on average, listened to by people for around 5 hours per day. people who listen to music do so for a whole number of different reasons. Some people listen to music to help them relax, some to help them focus and some to just simply pass the time. People use and listen to music near;y every day but has anyone stopped to think about how listening to music can affect your chances of getting Alzheimer’s?
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Today’s blog is going to be the fifth blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about how listening to music can help reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s/ Dementia. Listening to music can help trigger emotional memories and is a real help to people with Alzheimer’s but also to people who do not have the condition.
I could go into detail describing the ways that music helps people with Alzheimer’s but I have found a few videos that do a much better job. the two videos in this blog are both fairly short but add so much more value in comparison to the words that I could use.
This first video always makes me smile. The sheer difference that music makes to Carol’s confidence and memory is astounding and the emotion that you can feel from her and her husband is a great feeling. Watching how a person can go from barely speaking to singing along to a song due to the power of music is a pleasure to watch and goes to show the effect that music can have on a person with Alzheimer’s.
The reaction and recognition that the music brings is really interesting to look at and to think about. Although the video is aimed at people who do have Alzheimer’s it does also apply to people who do not have the condition. triggering old memories can be a really good thing to do and is something that I highly encourage if you are dealing with someone who is or isn’t at risk of getting Alzheimer’s!
The second video that we are going to watch goes into a bit more depth and covers more of the educational side of music and Alzheimer’s.
I found that this video was a very interesting watch and there was one part that I found was worded excellently. This part is when one of the children is speaking near the end. he says that memories make us who we are and without them, we start to lose meaning. he says that it is really nice to have the chance to bring that meaning back to the lives of the old people who they are helping.
I could go into more detail on the topic but I feel like the videos really do it justice. they show not only the logic behind music and Alzheimer’s but also show the emotional reaction that the music generates. It really is an interesting theory to look into and there are a lot more videos and posts available if it interests you.
The happiness and smiles that you can see in the elderly people when they start listening to music is a pleasure to see and helps us see that there is still something there. There is still a part of the person left and that is something worth holding on to! Watching videos on music and Alzheimer’s helps me see that even though Alzheimer’s is a terrible condition that destroys lives, we can still be happy and enjoy music through it.
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Did you know that there is a connection between Music and Alzheimers? Do you know any other techniques used to reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer’s? What sings would you have ion your playlist?
Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the blog. See you in the next one!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
In today’s blog, we are going to talk about The Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Kevin Hart on Youtube. I haven’t reviewed any podcasts on the page before as I have only just started to listen to them but they are something that I want to do more of. The Joe Rogan Experience is a series of podcasts, created by comedian Joe Rogan, that is released on his Youtube channel – PowerfulJRE, https://www.youtube.com/user/PowerfulJRE. Each podcast has its own special guest and these can vary from Russel Brand to Elon Musk. The content in each blog is always different but they involve topics like social media, the future, A.I, positivity and many more.
I got the idea for this blog from two of my good mates, Will Morris and Lewis Burden. I had never considered listening to any podcasts before they told me about them and now I’ve started, I can’t stop!
I loved listening to the podcast and it made me look at Kevin Hart in a completely different way. The ambition that he brings to life and the motivation he has in life is truly inspirational. The positive mindset that Kevin Hart has and how he adapts it to life, in general, is a pleasure to listen too and it made me think what can’t we do if we put our minds to something with a positive mindset?
Before I go into the podcast itself I do have to give a quick disclaimer. There is some Adult language used in the podcast. The swear words and other sometimes frowned upon phrases are not used in a derogatory way, however, if you can see past them and really appreciate the core message that the podcast is saying then it will be a real pleasure to watch.
Now the podcast is a fairly long watch, reaching just over the 2-hour mark. There is a lot of different content discussed in the podcast which could make this blog massive. After planning this through though I don’t want the blog to be too long, as that waters down the actual message that the blog is trying to bring.
The way that I’ve decided to tackle it is that I am going to discuss some of the parts that I think are really important here, then if people want to discuss parts further we can do that in the comments on this blog, on our Facebook page or privately through emails/messages.
The first part of the podcast that I want to focus on is how social media is impacting society. Kevin and Joe talk about social media in the way that we live our lives now directly linked with social media. What they mean by this is that some people do things now simply because it will get more likes/attention online, not because they actually want to do it. The focus that we as people have on social media now is really worrying. People go through lives with their cameras on just in case they miss filming something, instead of actually appreciating it in real life for what it is.
This somewhat infatuation we have with social media has dramatically affected how we communicate with other people too. This change in communication does not only apply to how we communicate with each other, but it affects how we communicate with famous people/celebrities. Take a moment to think about what it would be like meeting a celebrity lets say around 10-15 years ago. You would go up to them ask them for an autograph and then talk to them for a little bit. Nowadays as soon as people see a celebrity they instantly put a camera in their face and demand a selfie.
It almost seems like now we see celebrities more like an online attention generator than actual people. Kevin talks about how personally he would much prefer it if people came up to him and talked to him like he was a genuine person, as that is exactly what he is.
Celebrities are not just reasons for people to press a like button on Facebook or like a picture on Instagram, they are actual people. This is not meant to be shaming anyone who does just go up to celebrities just for a photo, it is meant to make you think. Instead of automatically asking for a photo why not go up to them and have a conversation first then ask for a photo after? I think that they will be much more likely to take a photo with you if you’ve treated them like actual people.
The second major part of the podcast that I want to talk about is when Joe and Kevin talk about positivity. One of the lines that Kevin says in this part is “You’re your biggest enemy”, it is one of the best lines in the whole podcast. People nowadays do unfortunately focus more on the negatives in life rather than the positives.
It is almost like people now link positivity to popularity which is absurd but as Kevin says ” it’s not cool to be positive”.. On this page, I always talk about how being different is a great thing but even with being different, there are a few exceptions.
Quite a few people these days are almost trying to be different to others simply to be negative or to argue with them. Those people it seems to think that being negative about something makes them “cool” and just as they say in the podcast as one person starts talking negatively about something then others will start to jump on the “negative train”.
It is much easier for people to just argue or disagree with someone rather than actually taking the time to understand what they are saying. Trying to understand a persons point of view may take a little bit longer but the knowledge you gain at the end is much better than if you simply argued with them just for the sake of it.
The last part of the podcast that I want to talk about is a link between individuality and positivity. My favourite part of the podcast is when Kevin compares life to a book. I can’t remember the line exactly but it’s something like this “Everybody is writing their own book, how good is yours going to be?”. That line there is a line you can use for just about anything. It is something that I want to dedicate a whole blog to in the future but I will discuss it a little bit here.
The basic premise behind the line is everyone writes their own story. Do you want your story to be the same as everyone else? Do you just want a plain, normal book? Or do you want to try something new? Make your book something you would be proud of.
Approach life in open arms with a positive mindset and who knows where your book will end up. It is very rare that anyone likes a book that has no plot, it’s about the story, the adventure, the risks and the outcomes. Go about life learning, you can never stop learning. The world is constantly evolving, use that to your advantage, try something new, surprise yourself!
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Like I said at the start of the blog I didn’t want the blog to be too long as that waters down the message/ messages that the blog aims to give. What do you all think of today’s blog? Are you going to watch the podcast? If you have watched it what do you think? Are there any parts that I missed that you think I should have included? Let me know what you think in the comments!
A big thank you to my mates Will and Lewis for recommending this podcast, it was an amazing watch/listen! I am hoping to do a few more blogs with Will and Lewis in the future so keep an eye out! If anyone does have any ideas for future blogs then please get in touch! I’m always happy to listen to new ideas!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great day! See you all in the next blog!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be put back into the business. This can be through marketing campaigns, upgrades to plans or for setting up future events!
Sweeney's Blogs 