“Music, Motherhood Connection and the Shutdown: A Particular Food Group”

“Music, Motherhood Connection and the Shutdown: A Particular Food Group” blog post by Karen Canan


Singer and actor Cynthia Erivo said this in a live stream interview/song association segment with Terrell Grice of The Terrell Show: “Music: I genuinely believe that that carries a person’s soul and a person’s energy within it, and that kind of energy is… I think it’s tangible.  You can touch it, you can feel it, and when you take that away completely, it’s like removing a limb… when you take away that food [talking to Terrell about the energy exchange he is missing without doing his song association Youtube show during the shutdown] it’s like a particular food group that you can’t get unless these people are doing it” (40:23).

I’m sure that’s true, because I, Karen Canan, get tremendous energy from watching the show, and that’s not even experiencing the incredible singing and conversation live, let alone being the actual host.  The shutdown has affected all of us.  My particular food group, which is being a mother and having the agency to take care of my son, felt very threatened right at the beginning of the COVID-19 virus’s entrance into Oregon, but music, my other particular food group, carried me through.

My shutdown experience started off with a bang, with LBCC shutting down right as my ex arrived, one week early, to demand that my son’s Spring Break visit start early and end only when the shutdown ended.  I felt I had to agree to the week early part, but it was a challenge to get my son back home when Spring Break ended, and in the intervening time I got myself through by mainlining Youtube episodes of The Terrell Show.

I have also found music to be essential to contented family life with my son during the shutdown.  If I play music on the piano, or start singing a song, he starts humming along.  Period.  And vice versa, now that he has his own lexicon of songs.

I think this is universal.  My Mom used to play piano as I went to sleep, and I loved hearing the sound float in and bring peace to our household right before bed.

And this brings me to another interesting shutdown development, and that is Mommy Radar.

Yes, when my son comes back from a bicycle excursion, or when he’s headed to his cousin’s house, I know just when he‘s about to arrive and I head out to meet him or call his aunt’s house to see if he’s arrived.  Period.  It’s Mommy Radar.  Somehow, with the diminution of all the distractions, this attunement to my son has grown and it’s great.

I am exceedingly grateful that my particular food groups, of being a mom and a musician, can still be happening during the shutdown.  

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