One thought on “The Health Edge: Social Connection and Health”

  1. Peter Smith

    A favorite anecdote from 20yrs ago while traveling through Limerick, Ireland. In a small, crowded noisy pub tucked in an ancient stone rampart one evening a young man at a nearby stood up spontaneously and without introduction or fan fare sang a lovely traditional ballad, then sat down and rejoined his table without pause. Like the first brave songbird at daybreak he sparked the urge in others and soon another ordinary warbler stood up and offered his tune, again without fan fare. This went on for hours and at some point I was struck by the difference to typical American culture where there would be a lot of fuss and introduction, a microphone, calls for silence for the singer, and lots of attention directed his way afterwards. I mentioned this to the Irishman on the stool next to me, he replied in lilting accent “…thats because here we know that singing is good for you, so we sing whether we’re any good at it or not, and if anyone else happens to enjoy it thats nice, but the primary benefit is to the singer.”
    I loved the “dance like no one is watching” message in his reply. Its as obvious as breathing if you just relax.
    Thanks for this episode Mark, really enjoyed it!
    Peter

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