Weekly Reflections: Positivity

Mr Hadrian Briggs reflects on the week, with our theme "Positivity" 

This week’s theme is ‘Positivity' and, although ‘blue Monday’ does not arrive until next week this particular period of the year is not known as the most uplifting. We’ve all heard of the January blues: after the festive season – where we get to stop, see family and friends and give and receive gifts – we find ourselves back at school or work with all the same things to do, except that now it’s dark and cold and there isn’t a holiday or celebration to look forward to!

Some have linked this to seasonal affective disorder – low mood as the result of a lack of sunlight, meaning we do not get enough vitamin D which can reduce the buffering of increased calcium in the brain. Just over 10 years ago, Cornell university’s researchers analysed the content of 509 million tweets from 84 countries. They found a correlation between the change in daylight hours and emotional content of the posts: as the days shortened, users tended to employ fewer positive words.

So, for many this can be a difficult time of year and, as always, Mrs Cunningham, who sets the weekly themes, is right: what we really need is a good dose of positivity to beat the January blues. Where are we going to find this? There are some things that always help – going outside around midday is proven to work, as are exercise and involvement with sport. As well as these I find that I, like many people, look to music to bring a lighter mood.  

This might be in making music – studies show that being part of larger group of people contributing to a beautiful whole brings a sense of interdependence, togetherness and achievement. There are also recorded benefits in terms of focusing the mind, in terms of simply practising – a great additional reason for our girls to prepare entries for our Young Musician of the Year Competition!

For me listening to music also has a positive effect although, ironically, a lot of the music I enjoy is probably based on the blues. The blues can mean a lot of things – the term was first used in the early 20th century to describe the improvised music made by musicians in New Orleans. Today the term has ossified to describe musical variations based around a repeating 12-bar pattern divided into three sections using a chord progression based on the first (I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) chords of a key. Lyrics typically follow an AAB pattern based on repetition and call and response. 

A near-perfect example of this is to be found in the wonderful Bessie Smith’s Back Water Blues. Here Bessie laments how a flood has made her, and many others, lose everything and fall into homelessness. Hardly the feel-good hit of the summer! However, there is something about the blues that helps to bring positivity out of even the worst situation – not for nothing is it the only thing that can bring relief from Jean-Paul Sartre’s character Antoine Roqentin in his existential novel Nausea.  

So, how does the blues make us feel good? The original blues artists grew up in a chapter of history filled with so much pain and they had to persevere through so many disadvantages in life. Blues was part of a tradition of using music to express yourself, which so many modern pop musicians have followed.  

From a listener’s perspective the blues reminds you that you’re not the first to struggle with problems: you’re not alone. The singer has got through it, and so will you! You might also gain a bit of perspective – perhaps our own issues are not as bad as we think. Indeed, many blues lyrics exaggerate situations for comic effect– you may even find some humour in the situation and be able to laugh it away!

And the same is true of so much music – I am sure that Adele, Beyonce, Lana Del Rey or Taylor Swift work in just the same way for today’s listeners.

I concluded my assembly on Monday this week by suggesting that we forearm ourselves with positivity in all sorts of ways this week. Suggesting we all get outside, exercise, tell each other our best jokes and play and listen to some uplifting music.

To help with this I want to make an RHB ‘January Blues’ playlist that we can share with the whole school community. So, I’m asking our whole school community to please send me your suggestions for music, of any type, that will help to beat the winter blues and ensure that our positivity shines through.