In this post I’ll be discussing the British Royal family, the importance of mental health, how this relates to the British government’s cutbacks to the arts in recent years, and why musical learning is important for children.
I must admit, I do get caught up in Royal wedding fever and it’s not always easy for countries without a monarchy to understand. There are those in Britain who happily accept the Royal family as symbolic representatives of our country. However, there are those of whom in my own generation and beyond, who don’t like the idea of having a monarchy but who have grown up seeing Prince William and Harry in the media and in turn, have watched them grow up via the same medium. There’s a certain attachment that comes with that.
Of course, there are those who would prefer not to have a monarchy and that of course, is their prerogative. However, I’m not one of them and will be watching the proceedings from Italy tomorrow with pleasure! I really can’t wait to see the dress that Meghan will be wearing!
The morning that I learnt that William and Harry’s mother, the beautiful Princess Diana passed away is still clear in my memory. I remember the blue dressing gown I was wearing (at 13 years old) when I walked into the living room and discovered the tragic news.
William and Harry were little more than children, Harry being the same age as me and William two years older but at that time they were 15 and 12 years old respectively. In terms of our relative ages, I felt they were somehow more accessible because of this. As a nation who had loved their mother, (and all the more through troubling periods of her life) to then see them go through such personal tragedy endeared them to us as a nation all the more.
With time that feeling has grown within myself, especially after the passing of my own mother at a relatively young age just over half a decade after they had lost theirs. This was something which deeply affected my father, younger siblings and I.
Last year, I personally appreciated how William, Harry and Kate were filmed discussing issues around mental health and the challenges and difficulties that surrounded their personal grief, as well as discussing why their work with mental health care providers is so important to them.
Here’s the video of their discussion below, which I’d like to share as it’s mental health awareness week:
In light of the issues they’ve highlighted in their work pertaining to mental health, I wanted to relate this to a musical context. This week mental health in relation to the arts has been something that has featured in the media. The potential fallout of cut backs in recent years to the arts has been discussed in various news outlets and the impact this will have on the next generation both in terms of access to musical learning for those from less privileged backgrounds but also for children in general.
The above twitter status is taken from the Arts Council’s twitter page who are highlighting the importance of the arts for health and wellbeing. In their own words:
“We believe that great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better.”
They invest public and government money, as well as that from the National Lottery to help create artistic and cultural experiences for as many people as possible in the country.
Why is this important?
“Art helps us access and express parts of ourselves that are often unavailable to other forms of human interaction. It flies below the radar, delivering nourishment for our soul and returning with stories from the unconscious. A world without art is an inhuman world. Making and consuming art lifts our spirits and keeps us sane. Art, like science and religion, helps us make meaning from our lives, and to make meaning is to make us feel better.” – Grayson Perry, Artist.
To read the full report into the research that has been carried out in the past few years to improve awareness of the benefits that the arts can bring to health and wellbeing, click here.
As regards children in schools, learning an instrument helps provide children with access to their inner creative selves. I remember as a child learning to play the recorder and I enjoyed it very much but regrettably, I wasn’t able to continue my musical learning as a teenager. According to this Guardian article,
“Finland has one of the best education systems in the world, where teaching music and learning to play an instrument are the foundation of children’s schooling.”
In light of this mentality, Finland has produced a number of exceptional musicians (according to aforementioned article) in the classical music world as a result of their investment. Isn’t this something we should build and value in a world where technology is becoming increasingly advanced and machines will be able to one day perform any number of tasks that we do now? In a future world, what will define us as human?
Our sense of spirituality as human organisms with the concept of a soul that can express our own personal experiences of the world we live in and our very human interactions with one another is what will increasingly define our identity and what sets us apart from robots who may eventually look, feel and sense the world in a way that’ll be similar to the way we do.
Personally, I feel that cutting back on funding is like cutting off the wings of our subconscious. Music is a vital conduit that enables us to fly through imaginative heavens and hells and all the spaces in between, allowing us to express and define who we are as people and how we connect with our world. It’s important for our mental health, our wellbeing and for our spiritual worlds (however you choose to define them).
So, to end this post, I toast the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and wish them every happiness on their special day tomorrow and always!
I also wish them every success in their work with various charities and hope that their work with mental health will incorporate that of the arts, enabling as many children as possible in the UK to have access to their own special gifts.
Lastly, I hope that this will, in turn, continue to feed our hearts and our souls, creating healthier, happier people and that ultimately, this will be something that they will choose to be written in sweeping loops and curves into their cherished book of love.
CLASSICALISTA 
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