Saturday, February 18, 2012

Medicine needs to be in tune more with music

According to Thomas Moore "Novalis said, ‘Every disease is a musical problem. Its cure, a musical solution. The more rapid and complete the solution, the greater the musical talent of the doctor.'" A patient writes about Moore's book Care of the Soul in relation to her own cancer diagnosis in today's post "Mystical Music/Paper Accomplishments". Amid quotes from this book, the blogger states, "Moore wonders aloud whether illness is a sign of battle between our bodies and something else in our existence. He asks whether it might not be possible to learn something from illness rather than merely focusing on overcoming it."

She also asks, "If cancer is a sign of disharmony that has caused a mythological god to visit me to draw attention to that disharmony, what have I done to address the disharmony, to befriend my cancer for the purpose of finding what it represents and repairing that condition by repairing something else in my life? If medicine and music have at their core an understanding that life and art have tonalities and harmonies that improve each, have I listened for the dissonance that my ill-health represents? Now that I am undertaking homeopathic remedies, am I drawing closer to remedying not only what is at odds with my body but also my soul?"