Yes, sad songs DO make me happy!

There's research from Tokyo University and the RIKEN Brain Institute flying about the airwaves at the moment which asserts that listening to sad music may well make us feel happier.

Sure it does.

This morning, I was feeling a little miserable because my hip joint hurts so much, and, as an active person, I hate the inconvenience, though it doesn't stop me from carrying on.  Then I was feeling MORE miserable because I have zillions of blessings in my life, so ended up castigating myself for daring to feel miserable for even one millisecond.

Then I got into the car to go to the yard and heard this on the radio:

The beauty of it brought tears to my eyes. Though sad, the emotions that welled up inside me were exactly those of the unutterable joy I feel at the birth of Matilda, my first grandchild.

Not the sort of transitory joy that makes you want to scream and shout from the rooftops and then it's gone, but a deep and fulfilling and eternal joy.

The researchers 'noted that emotions stirred up by music do not pose a direct threat to listeners, unlike emotions we feel on a daily basis. "Therefore," they say, "we can even enjoy unpleasant emotion such as sadness. If we suffer from unpleasant emotion evoked through daily life, sad music might be helpful to alleviate negative emotion."'

The conclusion of the experiment, with me as subject? My hip still hurts but I no longer feel miserable!