The Blues - Emotions, Music and Psychological factors

Something else i wrote for my religion class in which I relate Emotions, Music and Psychology to Religion...

It is necessary for humans to not only have, but to experience different emotional states in order to function properly. It is unheard of and basically impossible for a human being to not have any types of emotions. These different states of emotions can be anything from depression to joy and anger to happiness along with anything in between. Can emotions be related to religion, and how does the psychological factor and music play into the role of emotions and spirituality?

Humans experience different types of emotional states on a daily basis, whether they are emotional highs or lows. There are many different factors that play into what determines a person’s emotions at that given time though the biggest factor of them all is perhaps the relation between emotions and religion, spirituality in particular. When humans experience emotional highs, it is usually caused by something very extraordinary and something that really touches that certain person. In religion, these emotional highs are also called “spiritual highs” and can lead some people experiencing this to speak in the ancient Hebrew language or “tongues.” Spirituality can help a person be emotionally stable which can then lead that person to happiness.

Looking further into the relation between emotion and religion is by taking a further look as to how God and emotions are related. Having a relationship with God can determine the emotional state of a person and that person’s psychological state. Being in a relationship with God could be the difference between being at an emotional low and an emotional high. Someone could be going through a stage of depression and be close to giving up on life until that person finds religion and begins to build that relationship with God which can ultimately change that persons emotional low to an emotional high. God gets humans in this spiritual high that is not like any other feeling that can experienced by a person.

The human mind is a very powerful machine and is the primary driving force of the human body. The study of psychology attempts to understand the function of the brain. Psychology – it is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. With that in mind, it is fairly easy to see its relation with religion. The human brain is like a sponge - it can absorb and retain all kinds of information and if need be, the mind can be tricked to believe something is true whereas it is completely false – this leads back to the concept of consciousness in terms of being aware of what is true and what is false. The perception of religion is brought into this factor because even though God and religion are real, there is still a psychological factor that plays into this role. How?
Simple - when one first encounters religion that person does not necessarily believe at first hand that the theory of God and religion is real – but then this person is introduced to the actual idea (mind begins to absorb information) and the more the mind learns, the more the concept can seem valid thus leading the human brain to be able to be influenced by the beliefs of others which then in turn causes the person to start believing in the religion and God. Consciousness plays a role in all of this in regards that the human mind must still be aware of what is actually real and what is not. This is the psychological factor of religion – and this can be seen on a daily basis. The brain will absorb any kind of information, and once it is sold on something it can begin to believe it – consciousness comes into play in determining reality from the fictional.

Another interesting theory is the relation music plays in regards to religion. Music can affect emotions and the mind exactly the way religion can. Musicians for instance, can feel an emotional high when they are performing – it is almost as if they are in a different realm or world, similar to the experience one faces when that person is on a spiritual high or speaking in “tongues”. The person gets such an emotional high that one gets lost in the moment and forgets where they are and what they are doing. It happens without thought and when one snaps back to reality that person finds it difficult to explain in detail what they were experiencing let alone how they did it.
This can be closely related to sports as well – this spiritual and emotional high people have either while worshiping or performing is existent in the sports world as well and is commonly referred to as “being in the zone.” When an athlete is “in the zone” that person is nearly unstoppable and it comes without thought and is not a switch that can just be flipped. It is something that occurs in the moment and one usually is unaware of when it is happening, therefore just doing it without thought or knowledge of it. As any of the other emotional highs, the athlete is unable to explain what was done or how it was done – it was just a spontaneous moment.

Emotions and music have played a role in my religious experiences in terms that I find myself getting lost in the music I listen to, often times not realizing where I am or what I am doing. An example of this is when I am driving in the car on my way home; there are times I get lost in the music for so long that by the time I snap out of it I have reached my destination without even realizing it.

The interesting part about emotions and the emotional highs humans experience is that when one is in the midst of them, that person usually does things he/she would normally not do – this can usually be seen by their actions, which are usually carried out in joy.

It is interesting how emotions are related to everything humans do on a daily basis, how they do it and why they do it. Regardless of what it may be, emotions plays a factor in what we as humans do on a daily basis and many times religion is a huge part of it because religion can be something that greatly affects someone’s emotions – and changes how that person reacts to a given situation. Emotional highs and emotional lows are both connected with religion in the sense that religion can get anyone out of an emotional low and bring them right up to an emotional high. Religion is what makes the difference between depression and joy, anger and happiness. At the end of the day, everything is connected with one another. Human mind -> psychology -> emotions -> religion. They all co-exist with one another to form the ultimate goal – religion and a relationship with God