Emotions.

A friend of a friends dog.

I never find painting a german shepherd something that comes easily. There is always a certain amount of emotion attached because I naturally think back to the many happy days I spent with just such dogs.

I am speaking of emotion for two reasons. As I painted this dog I once again felt that emotion, but somewhere in the nether regions of my brain there was something else calling to me that I had read about our emotions.

I managed to drag it to the surface.

Somewhere in the late forties or early fifties two doctors, Betz and Thomas, classified fortyfive medical students into three personality groups on the basis of psychological tests and questionnaires.

The students were listed either as "Alphas," described as cautious, reserved, quiet and undemanding.

"Betas," spontaneous, active and outgoing.

"Gammas," moody, emotional and either over or under-demanding. 

Thirty years later, Betz and Thomas looked at the health records of these former students. 

They found that 77.3 percent of the gamma group suffered from major disorders, including cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and emotional disturbances. 

The incidence of disorders was only 25 percent in the alpha group and 26.7 percent in the betas. 

The doctors repeated the study on another group of 127 male students from the classes of 1949 through 1964 with similar results. 

It seemed that, "Too often, gamma people get lost in their own emotions," said  Betz. 

"While a person's temperament cannot be changed, more support from outside sources such as more human contacts and friendship might help lessen a gamma's risk of disease."

So just another little anecdote in my many in the list of the value and worth of friendship.

Thank goodness for that because the other thought that this survey seemed to convey to was this. 

People who have uneven temperaments appear to have a much greater chance of developing serious illness and of dying young than do those with other temperaments. 

Now I cannot speak for others but I can for myself and I know where on the spectrum I find myself. So it seems that maybe my friends are also helping to keep me in the land of the living. Where will it all end?

Just out of pure interest and for no other reason I share with you this little nugget that came to the foreground of my memory bank as I searched through it for the information above.

A group of motion-picture engineers classified the following as the ten most dramatic sounds in films.

1. A babies cry.
2. The blast of a siren.
3. Water breaking on rocks.
4. The roar of a forest fire.
5. A foghorn.
6. The slow drip of water.
7. The galloping of a horse.
8. The sound of a distant train whistle.
9. The howl of a dog.
10. The wedding march. 

And the one of these sounds that causes more emotional response and upheaval than any other, has the power to bring forth almost every human emotion: sadness, envy, regret, sorrow, tears, as well as supreme joy. 

Is the wedding march.   Now there you go, ponder on that little thought.

Have a great day.