Music Soothes the Soul: Part 2 Music for Economic Disaster

In my first blog about music I talked about how therapeutic it can be to make a tape that you find soothing. That blog talked about creating a "break up tape" which fortunately, I personally did not need. The economic crisis, on the other hand, has been as psychologically challenging for me as for the people coming into my office, overwhelmed with anxiety, confusion and uncertainty. Therefore I'm suggesting that they, and you, like I did, make a "Chase the Economy Blues" tape to distract and calm yourself in response to the veritable crash of the American economy,.

World leaders are unveiling new economic plans daily as are both our presidential candidates. My economic plan: struggle, fight, persevere, get a perspective, stop feeling sorry for yourself, focus on gratitude and give something back to the world. ." After all, we're witnessing the collapse of the U.S. banking system, yet we still have more material comforts and security than millions of people in third world countries and many right here at home living in poverty.

I started my own "Yikes, We're in a Recession" tape. You might start it, like I did with The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They know, as any therapist or spiritual leader will tell you, "Hey, hey Mr. Millionaire, Twice as nice when you share. Hey, hey Mr. Millionaire, A spiritual price, do you care." Take another look at what you do have, take stock of the many things that can make you feel grateful and get involved with community service. It's the best cure for depression. And it's free and not toxic.

Blood, Sweat and Tears are a musical group that was popular in the 60s and 70. Their fame was at its height before many of you were born. Get lost in the wisdom of these musicians. In their hit song, "Spinning Wheel" they explain exactly what we in America wanted to ignore: "What goes up, must go down". We had a party of great prosperity; now it's over. It went up and now it must, as the song says, come down. Aside from that, the name of this group is analogous to exactly what the country needs to go through before things get better. Its what people experience when they struggle with big issues in therapy: blood, sweat and tears is what it takes to bring about profound change.

Alicia Keys reiterates this principle in her aptly named song, Karma: "What goes around comes around. What goes up must come down." Karma isn't something therapists usually talk about, but America hasn't exactly been building up good karma in any part of the world. Hopefully, our next President will take Alicia's wisdom and change our Karma; that will undoubtedly help us get out of the demoralized place we're in.

Sly and the Family Stone are another old group who came out with a song in 1971, "Somebody's Watching You." The central message of that song is "The Nicer the Nice, the Higher the Price." The 60s had been a big party of economic prosperity, similar to the party that's ending now. In 1971, when this song was released, America, like it is now was in the longest and deepest recession since The Great Depression. The year was similar to 2008 in more ways than the economy: America was fighting the war in Vietnam, a war that could not be won and was not, in fact, a war that America did win. That war drained the U.S. economy, as is the senseless war that cannot be won that America is fighting in Iraq. Hmm...do war and recession go hand in hand? I don't know, I'm not an expert but the music then and now is eerily similar. In any case, my advice to myself, and to you, is "listen to the music."