oboeinsight

People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, regardless of how educated or rich they are, according to a study.

But the link between culture and feeling good about oneself is not quite the same in both sexes, according to the study, published in the British Medical Association’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

For men, passive activities such as taking in a concert or museum exhibition are associated with an upbeat mood and better health, it found.

For women, though, the link is active, in that they were less likely to feel anxious, depressed or feel unwell if they played music or created art.

The article is short and is talking about leisure activities, not professional activities.

I’ve read things that suggest we professional musicians are in a very stressful career. I’ve read other things that suggest we are extremely satisfied. I can only speak from my experience (well, perhaps I can speak about what I’ve seen with colleagues too, but I won’t go there right now). Yep, it’s stressful. Yep, it’s satisfying too.

I love my job. My job is stressful sometimes, but it feeds me. When I “bomb” (and for me it takes very little for me to say I bombed!) I can fret for a long time. But it does make me want to improve rather than give up. When I play well, I leave with a sense of accomplishment. I feel blessed to be a musician. It makes my heart happy. I hope it makes other peoples’ hearts happy as well. I never know for sure. I do know no one dies if I make a mess of things (well, I die a little inside, but that’s another story!). And while I don’t do something that kills anyone should I blow it (whew!), I think music actually does help with living. It really is an honor to be involved in it.

Saturday night’s concert, playing Oblivion, was one of those nights that makes me so happy to do what I do. It felt good. It felt right. It also was fun. I felt comfortable making music. I felt as if I could speak through the notes without any sense of reed warfare (woo hoo!) and it just … well … worked. (PIazzolla is that way for me; I love playing his music!) Of course Sunday and Monday are now WithdrawalDays™ — I go from being so happy about the performance to being sad that it’s over, and eventually to questioning how I really played (I won’t get a recording of it for a while so I have to rely on memory which, as it ages, tends to move toward the negative, wouldn’t you know?). It’s a funny life we performing musicians lead, even those of us not at the “A” level. But how I LOVE it! I love the performing. I truly love the teaching as well … perhaps that’s the part of this job that is the most heart-warming to me, as I hope that no matter what my students pursue in their adult lives they will have a knowledge of music and a love and understanding of oboe.

But please do take note! This doesn’t mean I won’t whine about reeds. In that I will remain loyal. Consistent. Faithful. Forever. 😉