On Feeling Wonder and Amazement

We had our first summer thunderstorm last night. A loud, exciting, scary, awe-inspiring thunderstorm. The kind of storm where you sit and watch. Amazing.

I even managed to catch a couple of pictures of lightning on my iPhone (It *only* took 150 pictures to catch 2 lightning strikes). Check them out:

I was thinking about the storm again this morning and re-living the wonderment I felt. I realized that I often feel this same sense of wonder when working with my clients. Sometimes this feeling is due to the amazing power music and rhythm have. Sometimes I am in awe of how resilient and powerful our brain and mind can be. And sometimes I am amazed at how privileged I am to witness the growth and changes my clients make.

I have seen a hospital patient, diagnosed with expressive aphasia, struggle to speak a single word, yet able to sing an entire sentence after a few minutes. Children who are dysregulated, yelling, and trying to “run away” who are calmed down enough after singing and rocking to one song to talk about how they miss their moms. A family, each member wrestling individually with feelings of grief now that their mother is entering hospice, brought together and crying openly after one verse of “Amazing Grace.” An elderly man, diagnosed with Parkinson’s, who struggles to walk down the hall to his bedroom, shuffling and getting “stuck” in place frequently, who is easily able to march down the hall as we sing Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

So often I feel honored to be doing what I do. I know I am not the only therapist, music or otherwise, who feels this sense of awe in our work. There are probably people in other fields, too. Do you have any stories to share?