The impact of different arts on personal issues
SPAMM. Street-art. Photography. Architecture. Music. Memes. All these topics are closely related to Art and are indeed considered as forms of art.
Sport, dance or painting are fields that are known to be helpful to the human being for their positive impacts on mental and physical health.
But what about all the topics that compose SPAMM? Could they also have a positive effect on mental and physical health? It is what we’ll all going to discuss today.
What about street-art? According to me, this art is bringing more than a way to people to smile, feel better, or to think better. Firstly, from the street-artist point of view, what a positive step to see that this king of art is now respected, recognized by other, that they are considerate as equals by other artists. I don’t doubt that in their heads, that brings a ray of light, of hope for the future and finally trust in themselves. Moreover, whether you are a famous or a less famous artist, seeing people like their art, respect it and come to a place especially to see it, it’s motivating for the future, the feeling of personal fulfilment is reached.
From the « viewer » point of view, that’s all different reasons why street-art could cheer you up. Firstly, when you, on a regular basis, pass in front of street-art pieces, it could be very inspiring and help you to escape from your world for a second if you feel that you need it. Moreover, when the message that is spread talks to you, touch you, helps you in your own way, that I don’t need to explain why street-art is a generator of positive energy. On another side, seeing all these messages could also be a motivation to be the best of you that you could be.
Photography has always been a way to express ourselves through artistic pictures. It's also a way to spread a message. We all know the expression: "images are better than words". With certain photographs, we can really relate to this expression and understand well its dimension. But for many, photography is also a way to learn how to love ourselves and to accept the way we are.
Did you ever have a weird sensation when you saw a picture of yourself? That's normal. It's because the way we see ourselves in the mirror is not the same way people see us. And photography gives us a picture of "how people see us". And we're not used to seeing ourselves as others see us.
Nowadays, thanks to many artists, courageous people, and social media, we can see the spread of a trend that we can call "Body positive". People who don't have originally confidence in themselves post pictures of them or someone else but always in order to make people realize that we have to stop comparing ourselves with others and begin to love our bodies the way it is.
To be inspired, there are some Instagram accounts where we can fell this vibe.
Social media can be a place dangerous and a lot of persons are scared to publish content that might receive some negative comment. But look at those 3 beautiful women. They overcame this fear and now they inspire so many persons. What you post is not about other people... It's about you. So, don't be afraid to spread your message, to publish a picture of your wonderful body, and live your life at 100%. No one can tell you to be this or that. You are the one to decide! So, go get inspired by influencers that spread the body positive message, and inspire others by spreading too this message.
Architecture is the mirror of a time period, of the History. It reflects the people’s behaviours, needs and emotions for their habitation, for their Home. Looking at the architecture around the world, we can find resemblance and some kind of an identity.
The world is huge, in constant expansion, and the future uncertain. Giving meaning or significations to things, like architecture, create a community bond between resident. That’s why we try to keep architecture style in our cities like in London (with the Victorian style) or try to restore monuments, because of their meaning for the population.
For example, last October in Japan, Shuri Castle was destroyed in a fire, people of the Okinawa prefecture were shocked from the destruction of a part of their History, of themselves. Or we can also relate this tragic event with the fire Notre Dame de Paris, where we saw in direct the destruction of a part of the cathedral. People gave meaning of security to theses monuments, and they were affected during their destruction.
Have you ever used Music to improve your mood? Undeniably, the benefits of music are multiple, especially regarding mental health and overall well-being. Music acts on our brain so much, that many scientific studies were made. Indeed, neuroscientists have found that listening to music activates the brain's « reward circuit », the circuit that makes us produce dopamine (the hormone of pleasure and desire), oxytocin (love hormone), serotonin and endorphins, that erases pain and make us feel good. So, no wonder why music is so powerful in improving our physical, mental, and emotional health!
Music can deliberately be used as a source of positive stimuli and boost exercise performance. This is the case of sportsmen and women who often have their ritual or fetish song before competitions. It is the song that triggers their adrenaline, necessary for the competitive spirit.
Furthermore, some words in song lyrics can correspond to the situation anyone is going through which can make us relate and give the feeling of being understood and supported in a difficult moment. Music here acts as a real source of company, that allows to escape from the silence of sadness or emptiness some might experience.
If music helps regulating our emotions, it is also used to heal and soothe. Nowadays, music therapy (which is the use of music to relieve mental illness) has been proven very efficient. The use of music is tested for example in operating rooms, in intensive care units, or to support patients suffering from mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.
Music will therefore lower anxiety, act as antidepressants, but also helps us to concentrate (while listening to « Lofi » music for example) and even stimulates our memory: it makes us travel in time and feel emotions linked to our memories again.
Besides, music also remains a powerful way of uniting people. It doesn’t only create individual feelings, but it also connects us. A good example of it are music festivals, where good vibes and feelings of cohesion are strongly present.
We can say that a good Meme equates to a good joke and whether it makes us laugh, smile or strongly expire through our nose, we enjoy it.
It is common knowledge that this enjoyment brought to us by a joke has beneficial effects on your body and health.
When you start to laugh, it induces physical changes in your body by stimulating many organs. Indeed, laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.
It also activates and relieves your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
This feeling will stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.
In addition to those short-terms effects, we can add the following long-term benefices like improving your immune system.
Indeed, positive thoughts can release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
Laughter may also ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers. It can help lessen your depression and anxiety and make you feel happier and help you connect to other people.
I obviously won’t go as far as to claim that memes will one day be incorporating in treating cancer but scientists are researching humour as a therapy for mental illness such as depression as it increases personal satisfaction and improve your mood. Meme have a bright future on the internet and while humour is contagious, its only side effects are shortness of breath and a sore belly.