Imagine entering solitude, as either a familiar or foreign landscape; getting the lay of the land; then choosing a direction in which to go. With that approach to organizing our research subjects’ many diverse experiences, four categories of benefits emerged like cardinal directions on a map – north, south, east, and west. In solitude, we draw our own map and orient our individual compass as we venture down our chosen path. The direction one goes, toward a new or familiar destination, may vary depending on the day or moment, stage of life, or necessity or desire to achieve a certain goal.

This first chapter introduces the connection of music to wellness as we age. It underscores that music is a pervasive influence, found in all cultures, and embodies the heart and soul of a people. We describe a well society, and discuss how music may be beneficial to both the person and society. Further, we establish the phenomenological-humanistic orientation of music, wellness, and aging. This approach recognizes social connection as a basic need, and self-actualization as an essential human motivation. Self-actualization refers to a need for personal growth, where there is the expression and fulfillment of the upper limits of one’s abilities, talents and greatest possibilities, and the essence of who we are that is reflected in creative activities such as music. We further note that the process of self-actualization is central aspect of our well-being throughout the life course.

Personhood theory figures prominently in virtually every list of justifications for intellectual property in general and copyright in particular. Typically ascribed to the philosophical ideas of Georg William Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant, this theory posits that authors have such deep connections with their creations that respect for their sense of self requires giving them a degree of ongoing control over those works. In essence, works are treated as extensions of the author’s person. As such, certain types of interference with those works would be tantamount to intruding on a part of the author’s body.