While I am a big believer in the concept of toxic nostalgia — the way people willingly romanticize the past into some glowing fantasy while bemoaning the present — there’s still something to be said for revisiting the communal rituals of youth when you’re older. Some childhood experiences really did offer something adult life struggles to replace. The connection, the sense of purpose, and the excuse to leave the house to hang with people who have a common passion.
For instance, take this Associated Press article about the growing popularity of adult music camps across the United States. Band camps, which probably took a bit of a reputation hit in the wake of the first American Pie movie, are, contrary to the version of it described in the movie, collections of kids who spend a summer honing a musical craft.
These kids eventually grow up, sell their tubas and trumpets for couches and beer money, and spend the next several years or even decades occasionally wondering if maybe they should’ve stuck with their chosen instruments, as the playing of them enriched their spirits, and the camaraderie of their fellow musicians is something they dearly miss later in life.
The adult band camp phenomenon is proving to be a shining ray of hope for retirees and longtime musicians in states like Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, where adults come together to spend days rehearsing symphonic pieces and performing concerts to reconnect with their musical brethren, along with their long-abandoned instruments. The camps range from beginner-friendly to advanced, but the music is almost secondary to the community.
Why Be Lonely When You Can Play Music With Your Pals at Band Camp
We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic where people, usually men, feel disconnected from their friends, family, neighbors, and broader communities. Shared hobbies bring people together online, and while that is better than nothing, it doesn’t compare to sharing a physical space with someone, especially when you’re working on a creative project you’re passionate about.
These band camps for people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s provide a much-needed physical place where people can gather around a common interest without trying to monetize it or turn it into some kind of personal brand. It doesn’t have the pressures of the modern-day social media scene, where everything has to turn into capital-C Content. The only pressure is whether you can show up on time and hit the notes on the sheet.
Playing music, especially in your older years, helps reduce stress, helps memory retention, and it just overall improves cognitive health. There are a ton of emotional, psychological, and physical benefits to jamming with a brass section the way you did during the Nixon administration, but more than anything, it’s providing people with a reconnection to their humanity.
One of the article’s interview subjects is a 71-year-old from Baltimore named Lori Guess, a retired Department of Defense lawyer. He summed up the benefit of it all beautifully when she told the AP, “When you’re playing music together, you rise above all the pettiness of life…And it’s just the most spiritual thing I can think of.”
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