Self-Expression is Self-CareIn our modern-day, technologically driven society, people tend to bottle up their true feelings and experiences to portray only the best versions of themselves. This is the perfect person we see when scrolling through our feeds on social media. In reality, however, we are all going through struggles and we cannot always be so strong and mighty. Of course, emotional regulation is important but always holding in your emotions can be extremely taxing and detrimental to your mental health. In my educational psychology course, EDPY 401, we discussed the idea of emotional competence, which is defined as the essential social skills required to recognize, interpret, and respond constructively to emotions in yourself and others, or one’s ability to interpret and construct appropriate emotional responses. Emotional competence is made up of three different elements: emotional expressiveness, emotional understanding, and emotional regulation. Emotional expressiveness refers to the appropriate expression of emotion in social contexts. Emotional understanding is one’s knowledge of other’s emotions. Emotional regulation is one’s ability to cope with emotions and avoid the display of inappropriate emotions. All three work together to build a person’s awareness and expression of their own emotions and that of others. When a person is lacking in one of these elements it can lead to negative outcomes, such as aggression or random outbursts. It is important to instead find safe and healthy outlets to release any negative energy a person may be holding onto. For many people that productive self-expression can be accomplished through the arts.
I saw this when I traveled to South Africa to study abroad during the summer after my sophomore year. I was struck by overwhelming kindness and expression that flowed from the people, they were so welcoming and full of love and life. I have never seen a group of people who were so bursting with song. When we arrived at the Airport in Johannesburg there was an immense gathering of people outside the terminals with posters and cards and balloons to welcome their friends and loved ones, and when people would arrive they would dance and sing simply because they were so overjoyed to see them. If the whole world was like that just think of how happy we would be. I was met with a similar environment when I went to Wits University to work with the choir. They taught us a traditional South African song and we joined them at their concert at the Wits Museum on our final night there. On the walk there however one of the singers, Menzi, started up a song and we sang and danced in the streets our entire walk there and even through the halls of the museum. You could feel the joy in their song, it was an amazing experience to be a part of. This can be seen in the attached artifact, a video I recorded of us singing. The choir included people around my age, who were studying at the University, but also older members of the community, people who had been alive and lived through the horrors of apartheid and gained their freedom just 20 years prior. Yet, they each still found reasons to smile and be kind and to sing, and I think that it is because music is such a prevalent part of their culture and they are encouraged to express themselves through song. I was going through a tough time my sophomore and junior year, and I struggled with stress and depression and I started to lose sight of why I do what I do, but similarly to the experience I had marching through the streets of Johannesburg that Summer I was able to find my way again through music particularly when I was able to sing with USC’s vocal jazz ensemble, Carolina Alive as my small ensemble credit for my major. In Carolina Alive, I grew in my confidence as a performer and was reminded of why I do what I do by simply having fun making music. I did not have much experience with jazz, but after studying classical music for 3 years it was a pleasant break from my classical repertoire. For our end of semester performance, we performed at Musical Feast, a fundraiser for the school of music held at the Koger Center. There we performed some jazz standards as solos and as a group and we all got a chance to take a scat break at some point in the performance. Because I am not a performance major, this was a great experience to grow in my own practice and just have fun making music. Just being able to let loose and sing and enjoy making music for a while was a very cathartic experience. Jazz itself just makes you feel good and getting to stand around a circle of equally talented musicians and learn to sing, improvise and vibe off of each other and just enjoy making music together each week was a powerful thing. This process is described in more detail in my interview with Carolina Alive director Aletha Jacobs for EDRD: 500. If I was having a bad day or was stressed about an exam or a relationship I could walk into the rehearsal room and let all my worries out through the music. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked around the room and listened to the sweet melodies we were singing or playing on the piano, saxophone, or flugelhorn. This is an example of productive emotional expression, I was able to take my negative emotions and convert them to something positive through my music. I choose to practice emotional expression through music, but any form of expression can have the same effect. Whether it be journaling, painting, writing, dancing or any other form of expression the act of releasing all the negativity that has been held inside can help you to move forward and be more positive. Self-care is important, not only for your body but for your mind and by expressing your emotions and being creative you can care for your mind and bring out the best version of yourself, one that isn’t held back by worries or negativity but expresses your truest form. That is why I teach, to help people find their passion and just enjoy making music and help them to grow in their emotional competence through the process. |
Artifacts
WTC: Interview with Aletha Jacobs | |
File Size: | 74 kb |
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