To me, lullabies are the sonic equivalents of safe, gentle, healing hugs. As a therapeutic harp practitioner, I rely on them to enwrap patients in a cradle of tender melody and soothing rhythm. The origin of the word ‘heal’ is an old English term meaning ‘to make whole.’ To be made whole, we must accept our whole selves – every part of us. In a healthcare environment, this means defining the patient not only as their diagnosis, but also by seeing them as a whole person—someone who may have something wrong with them, but who also has many things right with them. In my experience, this is a key way therapeutic artists support patient safety and healing—by witnessing and reflecting the patient’s wholeness back to the patient, so they can witness and remember it themselves.
My own healing depends on spending time with music and in nature. This lullaby grows out of my own journey as an offering to all of us here on Mother Earth. As we heal ourselves, so we heal Mother Earth. As we heal Mother Earth, so we heal ourselves.
Bev’s inspiration is the power of music to support, move and heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually. She is a staff musician with the Friends of the University Hospitals Artist on the Wards program in Edmonton. Bev is Alberta’s first certified therapeutic harp practitioner.