Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty

I'm a big fan of the Big Bang Theory. I love Sheldon's sick song, Soft Kitty, and I sing it to others when it's called for. My favorite use of the song in the show is when Penny is injured and makes Sheldon sing the song to her because "injured and drugged is a kind of sick" (or something like that). Not only does she make him sing his song to her, but she makes him change it. It becomes a round and demands participation from both parties to make it work. From then on, Sheldon uses the round idea when he is with his friends, but not with his mother. He wants his mother to sing it to him the way he always has heard it - just her singing to him when he doesn't feel well.

It amazes me how songs become inexorably linked to situations, people, and memories. I am fascinated with how we can remember obscure jingles for products long gone, even when we don't intend to remember that information. The music seeps in and stays.

What is it about music that makes it stick? There are lots of studies out there that attempt to explain it, and I read through them, one at a time, attempting to fully understand our therapeutic medium and our brains. Maybe I'll know why someday, but I'm not sure that I'll be around long enough to know what happens in the brain when music is in the environment. Who knows?

For now, I'll spend some time with my own "Soft Kitty," singing to myself because "injured...is a kind of sick."

Happy Monday, all!

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