If a psychoanalyst ever tried to figure me out, she wouldn't need to tell me to lie down on a couch and talk about my mama. She simply could ask, "So, what have you been humming lately?"
See, it's like this: I can't not hum. (OK, English teachers, I know I just used a double negative. Sometimes breaking the rules works.) Of course, I don't hum every second. But probably, I hum at least once every hour I'm awake. Don't know why. Just do.
Natural-born hummer
Some people only hum when they're happy. But if you're a natural-born hummer, you hum no matter your mood.
So, if you could hear me, you could check my mood by what I'm humming. Sort of like taking my emotional/spiritual temperature.
Now, understand the limitations of my range. If I had better taste, I'd memorize Mozart's "Requiem" for the tough times and maybe something by Vivaldi for the happy days. Or if I had a broader cultural upbringing, I'd know plenty blues tunes to intonate my temperament. But I'm more of a country music/Baptist Hymnal/’70s rock kind of a guy. This has narrowed my humming repetoire.
First, the sad …
When I'm stressed or down in the dumps, I can measure the degree of my despair by the direction of my dirges. If I'm feeling forlorn, I'll hear myself working on a Hank Williams tune, like "I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry" or the George Jones classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today." But I'm also a person of faith and generally optimistic, so sometimes I hear myself trying to pull out of a funk with Isaac Watts' "Oh, God, Our Help in Ages Past" or Horatio Spafford's "It is Well With My Soul."
Also, the happy …
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When I'm happy, almost any up-tempo tune might pop into my head and roll out of my throat. Lately, with all our much-needed rain, I've been ruminating on "Showers of Blessings." That's a great double entendre, if ever I've hummed one.
Most of the time, Lyle Lovett fills my internal playlist. "If I Had a Boat" and "Give Back My Heart, You Kicker Redneck Woman" come around just about every day. So does "She Ain't No Lady; She's My Wife," and I always remind myself it's the tune, not the words, I'm humming. Almost all of James Taylor's songbook makes me feel calm.
So, when I listen to myself, I get a pretty good bead on how I'm feeling and/or what I'm doing to cope.
How about you? How do you measure and/or modify your mood?
Oh, and one more thing: All this humming also informs my prayers. Practically every day, I thank God for music. Even the tunes inside my head.
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