Music is Healing
- Singer Paul McCartney says cancer survivors have told him that his music helped them cope during treatment.
- During a cancer fight, exploring creative outlets such as music can really lift peoples’ spirits.
- Experts say that patients who are positive often see more successful treatment outcomes.
McCartney is known as one of the most adored singers in the last few decades, and his dulcet tones seem to have had a lasting impact on the people who need it most. During dark times, blasting your favorite songs can really lift you up, and McCartney learned that first-hand from those who faced one of the most difficult challenges a cancer battle.
Read MoreCancer survivor Bianca Muniz says music helped her cope during treatment
McCartney’s Experience With Cancer
For McCartney, hearing from these cancer warriors must have been a very special moment. The singer lost his wife and biggest muse, Linda, in 1998 at just 56-years-old due to breast cancer. He was right by Linda’s side as she went through treatment for three years, and so he knows first-hand how important moments of joy are during low moments.
"I think I cried for about a year on and off [after Linda's death],” McCartney told BBC in 2019. "You expect to see them walk in, this person you love, because you are so used to them. I cried a lot. It was almost embarrassing except it seemed the only thing to do."
This wasn’t McCartney’s first time watching a loved one battle breast cancer. McCartney's mother also died of breast cancer when he was just 14 years old. When his mother passed away, McCartney says he and his family rarely discussed their emotions and therefore he wasn’t able to grieve properly.
Art Therapy is Powerful
Art therapy such as music, painting, and dancing can really lift up spirits during treatment. It's not uncommon for those battling cancer to experience emotions such as anger, confusion, and sadness. So, the opportunity to express these emotions through artistic outlets can be extremely helpful music is one of those outlets.
Two-time cancer survivor, Bianca Muniz, turned to music as an outlet during her experience with cancer. Her cancer journey began at just 11 years old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Then, at 22 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Bianca says that undergoing numerous different treatments did have an impact on her voice, but she never let that get in the way of her love of performing, and cancer actually served as a muse for creating new music.
Related: My Friends Went Away After My Diagnosis; Thank God For Music
Similarly, breast cancer survivor Marquina Iliev-Piselli found an inventive way to channel her love for music while undergoing chemotherapy air guitar. The most helpful aspect of air guitar for Marquina was that it allowed her to channel a different persona and separate from her body for a moment. Then, while undergoing chemotherapy she should dress in different outfits in order to make herself feel better.
"Without air guitar, my treatment would have been incredibly sad," Marquina tells SurvivorNet. "Air guitar was the thing that brought me through. I recommend it highly. I air guitared in my chemo, and that saved my spirit. It makes it so that I don't look back on that time of fear."
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