Joy
At age 97, Birdie Gintzler 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.
Some of our favorite links to research about JOY:
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
Details on Authors and Attribution are included on the links.
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What brings you joy?
For more than 3,500 elders, youth, and families it’s the experience of songwriting together with professional songwriters. Songwriting Works’ facilitators collaborate with folks across the spectrum of age, and physical, emotional/mental and cognitive health. The melodies, stories, laughter, and tears that rise as lives and truths are shared lift the hearts of the song-makers and all who hear them. For those who love ancient tales that stir the imagination and kindle the spirit, Songwriting Works’ fiscal sponsee the Mythsinger Legacy Project offers quarterly StoryNights online and will resume in person events in 2025. Join us as we listen to master tellers and myth-singers who carry generational wisdom, often with epic humor. After the story is told we “feed the story” in conversation with each other, and in gratitude for the story that has so generously “fed” us.
Trained in Songwriting Works’ Eight Principles of Creative Engagement, Songwriting Works’ facilitators work one-to-one or with many. We bring love for music, Oral Tradition, and people into each session. Our goal is to enliven and enable everyone to fully express themselves in whatever form. There are no wrong answers. We’re all “lifelong learners.” Whatever a person’s age, training, favorite kinds of music, life story or situation, every voice matters and each person’s presence counts.