Joy
Birdie Gintzler, 97, was the eldest Singer and Songwriter of the Jewish Home, a musical group that composed, performed, recorded the album “Island on a Hill” and starred in Nathan Friedkin’s award-winning documentary A ‘Specially Wonderful Affair.
RESEARCH & RESOURCE LINKS:
HAPPINESS:
"Good Genes" are Nice but Joy is Better
SPONTANEITY:
Why Being Spontaneous Can Make Us Happier
AWE:
Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SONG:
A Community Choir Intervention to Promote Well-Being Among Diverse Older Adults: Results From the Community of Voices Trial
THE POWER OF SHARING OUR STORIES:
Stories Matter: Why Stories Are Important to Our Lives and Culture
Click on each link above for details on Authors and Attribution. Click the buttons below to learn more about Songwriting Works.
What brings you joy?
For the more than 3,500 elders, youth, and families who’ve co-written songs together with Songwriting Works’ professional songwriter-facilitators, it’s the melodies, stories, laughter, and tears that rise when we share our lives via the spoken and sung word. For lovers of ancient tales, it’s the kindling of the StoryFire online and in person as we listen to master tellers and mythsingers who carry generational wisdom, often with epic humor.
Current scientific research confirms what artists and teachers have known for millennia: Creating together through the arts boosts immune system response, elevates happiness, expands one’s sense of possibility, and gives everyone a chance to be more fully seen, heard, and appreciated.
Songwriting Works’ and Mythsinger Legacy Project’s programs maximize fun, meaning, ease of contribution, spontaneity, improvisation, and, essentially: we co-create memorable songs that each group feels pleased to craft, polish, and share. Our stories transform us.
Our facilitators are trained in Songwriting Works’ Eight Principles of Creative Engagement. Working one-to-one or with many, they bring love for music, Oral Tradition, and people into each session. Our goal is to enliven and enable everyone present to fully express their truths in whatever form. There are no wrong answers. Whatever a person’s age, training, favorite musical styles, life story, or physical, cognitive, or emotional health and situation, every voice and each person’s presence matters.
This is how Songwriting Works. This is how we keep the song and story going.
Do you or someone you know need a little more joy? Schedule a discovery call with Judith-Kate Friedman