I’m sure other people feel the same way, but when I say I listen to music all the time, I truly mean it. Whether I’m walking to campus, studying anatomy & physiology, eating, or even just getting up in the morning, I immediately put in my earbuds and start playing the songs I’ve been obsessed with lately. I’m listening to music as I write this. I’m not sure why either. Maybe I’m afraid of the silence. Maybe I’m afraid of allowing too much space for my own thoughts to fill in. We reflected on this matter during my First Year Writing class. “The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought,” said Sir Thomas Beecham. For some reason this really hit me. I never thought about music like this until now and it’s currently all I can really see it as. A therapeutic way to fill the silence that so many of us try to avoid.
Sometimes silence is good though. When I meditate, I like to focus only on myself and the noises around me and so I never put on music. Our lives have become so accustomed to constant background noise- living in the city, being surrounded by people, etc.- that we don’t appreciate the silence until we’re forced into the situation where we can’t escape it. An example of this place could be going on a walk on the beach or a hike in the woods (though it’s winter and I know not many people are doing this right now). Though it’s not complete silence, it’s much different from listening to music. It’s unplugging from the screens and manmade noises and simply listening to the world around you. Not the city world- we’re listening to nature’s world.
But I stray from the point. Personally, I use music as a way of distracting my brain from my continuous thoughts of life. I get so distracted by these thoughts that I use music as my new distraction whether it be while I’m walking, studying, or even showering. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. Discovering new music is something I genuinely love to do and something that makes me extremely happy. I’m just acknowledging the dependency I’ve created on allowing music to fill the void of silence. I’m not sure if I’ll change my habits but I know for sure that I’m going to make an active effort to recognize when I should let the silence take over me and to not instinctively put on some music to distract me from what’s there- my subconscious thoughts on life.
