Author: Bridget Benevides
Image courtesy of Pixabay
I love wind, it makes me feel free. It catches my breath in my throat and causes time to stand still if only for a moment. Wind has so much character, I feel like it’s there for me and there for the earth. But also, I feel like it’s childish in ways—sometimes it has a temper, like when there’s a storm, and sometimes it naps, when it lays dormant. But a lot of the time it just dances; it touches all the life in the forest and in the cities and in the deepest cracks of the earth. And I think all its “moods” are endearing and recognizing the imperfections of the wind is inspiring because it makes me feel okay to be imperfect too.
Lately I have been struggling to feel comfortable: with myself, with my relationships, with my grades, etc. Things have been moving quickly, life does not stop, and this I know, but I wish it would simply slow down. So, this month I am feeling some sort of orange, somewhere in between the orange that sets the sky on fire with a beautiful sunrise and the orange smoke that hides the moon in California. I am looking to find something that gives me the same feeling that wind gives me, and as I search, and question in quiet contentment, I am orange.
Although nothing compares to wind, music gives me a similar feeling of freedom. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of Dustin Tebbutt, sinking into his soft melodies, and tender vocals. His sound is similar to that of Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Novo Amor, and Ed Tullett (who I know and love), but uniquely his own.
Dustin Tebbutt is an Australian singer-songwriter who began releasing music in 2015 with his first seven-song mini-album entitled Home. The release was followed by a national tour, and he began filling venues as his word of his evocative music spread and he gained popularity. This album was written, recorded and produced all by Dustin, as was his debut album First Light which was released in August, 2016. This album had new and dynamic sounds, emerging from the dawn of a romance, the record was about falling in love and seeing the world differently in lieu of that.
Dustin Tebbutt’s music is light and sweet and instantly makes me feel a little more put together. Now, as a nursing major, I am always curious about the physiology behind everything. Recently, I looked into the neuroscience of music and why it makes us feel. When listening to music the pupils in our eyes dilate, our pulse and blood pressure rise, the electrical conductance of our skin is lowered, and the cerebellum, a brain region associated with bodily movement, becomes strangely active. Blood is even re-directed to the muscles in our legs. (Some speculate that this is why we begin tapping our feet.) In other words, sound stirs us at our biological roots. Scientists have even used PET scans and fMRI machines to look at people’s brains responding to music! The first thing these scans discovered is that music triggers a release of dopamine in multiple parts of the brain (not surprising because dopamine is associated with pleasure and happiness.) The more surprising finding came by looking at the time of the music and the brain scans side by side. The scientists found that our favorite moments in music were preceded by an anticipatory phase which “can trigger expectations of euphoric emotional states and create a sense of wanting and reward prediction.” Isn’t that fascinating? But wait, there’s more. THIS is why we like music that is unpredictable, because dopamine neurons adapt quickly to predictability, so if we knew what was going to happen, we wouldn’t get excited. The longer we are denied the pattern we expect, the greater the emotional release when the pattern returns. That is when the music gives us chills. (source)
Music for Moods is my monthly column that will explore the relationship between my moods and the music I am craving when I am feeling some sort of way. Each month I hope to tie in some science, in an attempt to learn and educate (because I find this type of thing fascinating.)
This month I am feeling orange and looking for ways to feel inspired. I have been thinking a lot about the freedom of the wind, and the beauty of the elements, and listening to Dustin Tebbutt.
What inspires you?
BRIDGET BENEVIDES | “It’s only life after all” | KXSU Music Reporter