Recently, I listened to Danny Servidio’s “House Is A Healer” (HIAH) set on Rumble and heard the track “Medicine” from Onur Ormen. Lyrics of the electronic dance music (EDM) vocal house track include:
Don’t you know your love is like my medicine?
I’ve been up and down and back around again
All the things I tried, except the simple truth
To let my feelings show, and open up to you
So long, I’ve been tryin’ to fight the world
Dead wrong, everything I thought I knew
Hold on, tired of livin’ with my fears
Dead gone, tired of holdin’ back my tears
The song represents expression of open, honest, and vulnerable communication which I advocate when practicing rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). I especially appreciate the line, “All the things I’ve tried, except the simple truth.” There’s a reason for my appreciation.
Often, people practice elaborate schemes regarding conflict resolution when the simple truth would likely remedy an issue much quicker. For instance, drawing an example from the EDM track, one may approach an intimate partner matter with hubris—exaggerated pride or self-confidence.
Person X may say to his romantic partner, “You’re wrong and I’m right, end of discussion!” This common expression of hubris doesn’t take into account the potential for person X having committed an error in logic and reason of which fallible human beings are frequently capable.
In a redemptive manner, the song’s vocalist humbly admits, “Dead wrong, everything I thought I knew.” Perhaps person X didn’t know everything there was to know after all. There’s no shame necessary when admitting that we don’t know it all.
This is where openness to consider other possibilities, honesty with admitting when we’re wrong, and vulnerability to tolerate and accept the responses and reactions of others to our fallibility is important in regard to rational living. After all, no one alive is perfect and capable of always being right.
Given this factual statement, I now consider a line from the house track, “Don’t you know your love is like my medicine?” At first, this claim may seem incredulous. However, one definition of medicine relates to something that affects well-being. Thus, not all medicine is prescribed.
When contemplating this matter further, I’m reminded of a recent episode from the Joe Rogan podcast during which the host interviewed Calley Means and Casey Means. During the discussion, Calley Means stated:
The definition of medicine in the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] tax code is not a synthetic pill made by a large pharmaceutical industry. The definition of medicine is something that’s recommended by a medical practitioner for the prevention, reversal, cure, mitigation of a condition. The problem is that they’ve co-opted what medicine is in our brains.
According to the IRS website, “Section 213(d)(1) provides, in part, that medical care means amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body.”
Both guests of the podcast advocated a holistic approach to well-being which is a similar approach I use when practicing REBT. This is true in my personal and professional life.
Daily, I engage some form of physical training (exercise), monitor my nutritional needs, and adhere to a rigorous sleep schedule. Being that I’m not a robot, I don’t perform self-care activities in a perfect manner. Perfection is as unattainable as is being right all the time.
In any case, my level of functioning and quality of life are significantly improved as a result of a holistic approach to my mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs. Similarly, clients with whom I work, and who actually honor a routine self-care experience, report improved outcomes.
In this respect, self-care is a form of medicine as much as Onur Ormen’s track professes that one’s love is like medicine. I understand if this suggestion sounds like woo-woo nonsense.
Although many people are mesmerized with a Western approach to a pathological model of care – ostensibly focusing on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases – I invite you to undergo a 30-day challenge. I encourage you to incorporate self-care into your daily routine.
If at the end of a month you don’t feel better physiologically and psychologically, without altering any other element of your life, then discount what I have to say altogether. After all, I’ve already admitted that I’m not capable of always being right. Perhaps I’m wrong about holism.
On the other hand, suppose I’m on to something here. If adding self-care to your life improves your health, then perhaps this form of medicine may be worth holding on to – similar to how one holds tightly to a hug from a love one, as this, too, is apparently a form of medicine as much as HIAH.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost EDM-influenced REBT psychotherapist—promoting content related to EDM, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
Photo credit (edited), fair use
References:
Apple Music. (n.d.). Onur Ormen. Apple Inc. Retrieved from https://music.apple.com/us/artist/onur-ormen/1259377867
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