I pretty much always have music playing when I'm writing. In fact, I pretty much always have music playing when I'm working in any form.
Signs of spring...
I know there are people out there who can only work if they have complete silence, and I can appreciate that. One of my roommates while I was at University was like that — he couldn't concentrate if there was any other sound. A different roommate worked best with the TV on...
That just doesn't happen to be me, however.
The music I listen to while working is absolutely always in the background rather than in the foreground. I become part of the "I can't concentrate" crowd if the music gets a little too loud... it's like the increased volume "pulls" me out of my concentrative (is that a word?) trance.
The type of music that's on is also really important. I like listening to music — at least while I work — that "floats" in the background, doesn't require active listening and doesn't come into the foreground to steal my attention. For example, I love listening to classical music, but I can't work to it... because (at least more me) it demands being actively listened to.
The purple dead nettles are coming to life..
Of course what that sort of music brings about specific feelings and mental states is probably in the eye of the beholder as much as anything.
That said, Mrs. Denmarkguy — who is similarly afflicted to myself — listens to pretty much the same style of music as I do when she's working, with only minor variations.
But it gets a little bit more complex than involved than that.
For example, when I'm writing — and trying to reach deeper inside my creative core — I require a different kind of music (typically something fairly atmospheric and moody) than I do when I'm trying to concentrate on rather boring and repetitive tasks like listing items for sale on eBay. For the latter, I typically reach for something that is more upbeat and keeps my brain from going to sleep.
Kale leaves as art...
Maybe those sound like contradictory statements, but writing creatively vs doing something mechanically repetitive that isn't particularly creative calls for two very different parts of our brains to be used.
On top of this, my choices in music often are related to my long term balancing act of being self-employed, while learning to concentrate as somebody afflicted with ADHD. In a sense, I could say that the different kinds of music provide different kinds of "interrupts" or "stops" for my brain waves, and hence are essential to my ability to stay focused when I am likely to randomly shoot off and become distracted by things I don't need to be distracted by.
As I write these words, I am listening to one of my favorite loops I listen to when I'm writing which is sort of a very atmospheric ambient "flow" — link to YouTube below. What's interesting about this is that while I am sitting here writing it serves to keep me in a state of having an immersive creative experience... but the very same music — if I'm sitting in bed reading, late at night — will help me zone out and go to sleep!
Which all goes to show that our brains are wondrous and often very individual things, and the onus is on each of us to discover what works best to make us navigate life in the way we find most useful and productive... or whatever it is we want to fill the moment with.
Nuance matters! And that is a very individual thing... two tracks can sound "cirtually the same" to someone else, and yet I'll find that one is perfect and the other grates on my nerves.
I'm very grateful to have music as part of my tapestry of life, and I'm grateful to have found the diverse formulas that allow me to get as much out of my day as possible without having to resort to pharmaceuticals. Which, of course, is likely the first thing that would be suggested to me, if I were to seek help from the legacy medical and mental health industry.
Not always the best solution!
Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings, I appreciate it! I hope you have had a great day and wish you the best on your Sunday!
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Created at 2025.03.08 19:12 PST
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