You Tube's Contribution To Well-being

Submitted by tonyplant on November 30, 2006 - 22:44.

Rachel on Sisyphus' Ledge has a discussion going about Hugh Laurie in the comments of her post, Just a note. I had to echo the House, MD/Laurie support and call attention to the many excellent clips of both Fry & Laurie and House on You Tube.

You Tube lots of montages of clips from the various series of House set to music. There are some superb angsty pieces that Frank Zappa might have had in mind when he made his, “It’s like listening to Weber at 4 am on a foggy November morning” (such as 4 a.m.). However, because Rachel recently commented that she enjoyed the smiles on the pictures that I posted from a recent Happystance event, I’m going with a couple of recommendations for smiley, blithe montages: Shoop Shoop Song and Smile.

I've previously enthused about blogging as a creative outlet. I think that facilities like You Tube and affordable software are providing even more creative and entertainment opportunities for people: both as creators and consumers.

You Tube offers video clips from instructionals on how to carve a turkey or calm a crying baby to fan tributes like the House montages and comedy clips from a wide range of tastes. It is also a remarkable repository for opera, musical, classic and modern dance clips. A recent article in the New York Times recommended that you should try typing in the name of a favourite aria:

“Sempre libera,” for instance, Violetta’s coloratura showpiece from the first act of “La Traviata.” They’re all here, it seems, the stars of yore and of today, perhaps tomorrow: Anna Moffo in a film version from 1967, Joan Sutherland at her precise best, Angela Gheorghiu at Covent Garden in 1994 under Georg Solti, Sumi Jo and Teresa Stratas and Adriana Kohutkova too.

When I was mentioned in Cosmopolitan earlier this year (I'm repeating this for my mum who is far more impressed by that then she has ever been by my publications in academic journals) I described one of my quick fix suggestions is that people with MP3 players should put together a mood lifting playlist - pieces that always make your feet tap or get you moving. With the growing sophistication of mobile phones and MP3 players, I advise people to put together a slideshow of images that make them smile, give them a fond memory etc. When I ran a session for young carers recently, the photo of the young cottontail rabbit was very popular with the girls. There are lots of photographs available for download from Flickr and it can be mood-lifting just to look through them.

Well, with the increasing availability of iPods and MP3 players with video capability, it is possible to put together your own montages of favourite scenes and music or look at the ones on You Tube and similar services. No, they are not a long-term solution but they can make a surprising difference to people who just need a small lift to get them through a down time in the day.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

You Tube | well-being | happystance | happiness | creativity