Flashforward

30/6/2020

My journey deep into the Waray jungle of the Philippines started some 40 years earlier at exactly 11 minutes and 8 seconds into Mike Oldfield’s Ommadawn album, the sequel to his incredible, iconic Tubular Bells masterpiece. I was laid on the floor in my parents’ living room with headphones on, listening and absolutely entranced by this mysterious music as it led eerily into strange, haunting vocals and a mesmerising, rhythmic, drum beat. Just then, I looked up and saw images on TV of a very old black and white film of tribal people canoeing up a jungle river. It set my imagination on fire.

I play Ommadawn at 12 minutes and 28 seconds now and those same pictures and feelings come flooding back evocatively – moving, exciting and captivating me, just as they did back then. Music has a way of doing that, as can e.g. image, colour, place, touch, object, word, taste or smell. We may find ourselves suddenly and unexpectedly transported back in an instant, in memory and in experience, as if no time at all has passed in-between. This can be very powerful in leadership, coaching, training and OD. Who or what holds positive resonance to build on? Who or what triggers negatively, to avoid?

22 Comments

Monica Fielding

30/6/2020 07:48:38 pm

Memories of positive events are so important, especially at this time that sometimes brings us to our limits of strength and patience. I can forget the present for a short time. To put myself in a feeling or in thoughts that are good for me, make me calm, make me feel happy or give me new strength.

Nick Wright

30/6/2020 07:57:37 pm

Hi Monica. Yes, that's very true. If we are able to evoke a positive psychological and emotional state, it is good for our health and well-being and enables us to relax and see things more clearly too.

Clau Garciah

30/6/2020 09:09:37 pm

I love it Nick! Some music does have that amazing power in me too... I started listening Bossa Nova many, many years ago, and every time it took me to beautiful Rio de Janeiro. I still can feel it!

30/6/2020 09:11:24 pm

Thank you, Clau. That sounds wonderful. It's as if music can transport us through space and time!

Annette Maie, Phd.

30/6/2020 11:55:42 pm

That was such an interesting time of invention in the 'pop' and avante garde music scene. I used to use many of the composers when teaching modern/contemporary dance classes as it evoked such great emotional responses which could be translated into movement.

30/6/2020 11:59:48 pm

Hi Annette. Yes, the 1970s seems to have been a fairly unique period in the music scene, characterised by so much creative exploration and experimentation. I wonder what that says about the wider cultural context of the time. Interesting to hear how the emotions it evoked translate into movement. Fascinating!

Felicity O'Hanlon

1/7/2020 11:42:40 am

Ah, well put! A favourite subject of mine, the world of symbolism, meaning and association! Also interested in art and music therapy. I once went into a ceramics exhibition at the Crafts Council in Pentonville Rd and as I turned towards a glass exhibition case and saw a beautifully shaped and glazed pot I heard a wonderful uplighting chord, in my mind. The beautiful tone of torquoise/duck egg green had struck music I could 'hear' but this has never happened again. Experiences like this can change our state of mind and transport us to another place and also change our feelings, often for the better. Whenever I'm in London I duck into the National Gallery and go to some favourite sections. Its like a cleansing or a re-tuning when you feel unravelled or just not in touch with yourself. Everyday after work I put on one of my many playlists on the drive home to wash away the day and re-calibrate myself for want of a better word. Likewise when I am feeling low I cannot listen to Neil Young, John Martyn, Nick Drake or Joni Mitchell. Too many minor chords - they are unfinished and symbolise sadness or yearning.
I was once trying to submit paintings and designs to a company that would sell art to offices but they were adamant about not wanting any muddy or murky colours, they had to be clear, bright and pure, presumably to regulate positive upbeat energy and emotions in employees.
When I was going through a very tough patch about 10 years ago I started making playlists from when I was a child in the 60s but also especially the 70s and 80s when I was younger, stronger and more in tune with what I was and what I wanted to achieve in life. This helped me re-gather and strengthen my sense of self to go forward.
Postive behavioural activation is also a part of CBT/REBT as is reframing. Music and art are powerful because they directly access the limbic brain, no intellectualising or rationalising getting in the way of processing emotion. Sorry Nick, think I have gone on too long again! Your writing is very evocative obviously!

1/7/2020 03:15:24 pm

Thank you, Felicity. I really like the idea of art as 'a cleansing or a re-tuning when you feel unravelled or just not in touch with yourself.' It can certainly do that for me too.

I notice how symbols can create a powerfully visceral response in me, e.g. positively, the sign of a cross of saviour Jesus; or negatively, the sight of a hated Swastika. They evoke and provoke me far more deeply than simple words can do.

I'm also interested in how evocative art from the past (e.g. experience of Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn) shaped me too, including over very long periods of time, and often outside of my conscious awareness.

I think your examples of office art, and choice of music that held resonance from your past to evoke a different state now, illustrate brilliantly the value I was pointing towards of use of diverse media in leadership, coaching, training and OD.

Hannah

2/7/2020 03:12:11 pm

This is so true!! It’s such a weird feeling when a song throws you back to a different time. It’s very clever how your mind links the memory to the music and doesn’t forget!

2/7/2020 09:26:04 pm

Thanks Hannah. Indeed! 😃

Charles Fuller III

3/7/2020 12:38:11 pm

Where does music take me? acc time and cultires to what we all share in common.

3/7/2020 12:39:17 pm

Hi Charles. Do you have any specific examples of music that have created that experience for you, personally?

3/7/2020 07:01:01 pm

Putumayo, Ali Akbar Kahn, N. Carlos Nakai, I perform w/the Amherst Area Gospel Choir - 200 yrs of upliftment and resistance music (I'm a white guy)...
- -Chad
OD/CD, Bass/Baritone

3/7/2020 07:01:22 pm

Hi Chad. That sounds great!

3/7/2020 07:23:45 pm

Smells go to a deeper part of the brain they say. Box wood certainly evoke deep ease (every visit to 'Grandma's" was preceded by the smell of box wood lining the side walk to her door. "Everything's gunna B alright now.") a memory, like the music example. But I will not be using smell-a-round techniques in my practice. I like short A/V presentations ('shorts', 'documentaries', 5 to 20 min 'movies') as AV seems to cathect the most emotion. Just something powerful abt that media (beyond the written, listened to, etc). Not looking to recreate but initial, create, anew. Learn/train... I agree, I hear any ol Motown piece, any British Blues - I'm back to preteen and teen-hood. 8^ )

3/7/2020 07:25:52 pm

Hi Chad. Yes, I have heard of organisations pumping specific 'smells' through the aircon systems with the idea that it will influence the mood in the office. I'm not sure how effective or ethical it is...but, hey.

Priya Thomas

3/7/2020 01:55:24 pm

Inspiring!

3/7/2020 01:56:21 pm

Thank you, Priya. 😃

Ian Henderson

3/7/2020 04:46:31 pm

Great piece as ever Nick. As you know, I use music as an anchor in my personal and professional life. The memories are so vivid, even from songs I heard in my youth xx years ago now!

3/7/2020 04:47:51 pm

Thank you, Ian. Would you be willing to share an example here of how you 'use music as an anchor'? I would be interested to hear more!

3/7/2020 05:13:49 pm

Sure Nick. Obviously certain types of music have certain types of responses. This is why if you hear a piece of music that was played, say, at a funeral that you attended your memory will kick in and you might well experience the emotion of that time again. The reverse is true. I have about 10 songs that when I hear the opening few seconds my mood lifts because I automatically associate the song with good times and a positive state. Specifically Groovin by the Young Rascals. If I am feeling a bit down, I play that song on Spotify and I can't help but feel in a better space. I have music for learning; for example Ballerina by Special EFX and Caravan of Dreams by Peter White. They're not the classical music that most folks say aid learning, but they work for me. I hope that helps Nick

3/7/2020 05:26:46 pm

Hi Ian. Thank you for sharing such great examples. It shows how different people can 'hear' the same music so differently. I think it's partly what it taps into for us personally and culturally, what it resonates with in terms of past experiences, what those experiences carry for us emotion- and meaning-wise now etc. I notice how I sometimes revert back to music from my past to evoke or express different psychological, emotional and physical states - perhaps because my teenage years were (like many) so intense and turbulent. One great example is 'This Perfect Day' by Australian punk band, The Saints if I want to blitz my head, drown out other thoughts or feelings or blow my mental cobwebs away! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80muImiU2LI)

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