This is my first non-techincal post (and in fact my first post in a long time, I’ve got a writeup coming up though 👀). I’d really like to write down my thoughts about this, as I think it could provide food for thought, or even some people might agree with me, and find the determination within them to do what I want to do. What you’ll read however is nothing more than my experience. I haven’t read a single academic paper nor have I discussed this with any psychologist. And I think that some things should be this way, personal and empirical.

Ladies and gentlemen, a short view back to the past

When I was in middle school, an idea somehow found it’s way to my mind. I probably heard it from somewhere, I don’t know where. The idea that music prevents you from listening to the music of life. As a teen this was very deep of course, however I never got around to actually living by that. On the contrary, I listened to a lot of music. Before school, after school, while studying. Still do. And I get very caught up in it. Standing up, stopping whatever it is that I’m doing and moving around repeating the good part from a song for 5 minutes till I’m exhausted and go back to what I was doing kind of guy. And I’m the guy who repeats the song he likes.

I have questioned this a lot of times. I’m playing a CTF, solving a challenge, reading up on something, and then an idea comes to my mind. Sometimes it’s an ideal scenario, others it’s not. For the former, I want to live the moment, and use the music like a soundtrack to elevate the feelings. For the later, I use the music to prevent myself from feeling down, instead putting good thoughts in my mind and putting in good strong music to make me feel better. Instead of listening to silence, to the sound of my keyboard, the fans of my desktop, and working on things to improve myself, I get caught up in my emotions, and let them distract me. I’m not listening to the music of life.

The music of life

When I refer to the music of life, I mean it in two senses:

• The first one is the literal one. It’s the sounds of the world we live in. It’s the cars going down the road and the the people commuting and talking next to you while you are walking to your university or job. It’s the sound of the rustling of the leaves in a cold night, and your footsteps along the empty road. It’s the sound of the two people who I guess didn’t have a nice start to their day, and are complaining on the public bus. The sound of your parents yelling downstairs while you are configuring your linux rice, or your dad being angry his football team lost.

• The second is the metaphorical sense. When you press a piano key, or stroke the strings of a violin with a bow, you produce sound, an action, which is translated into the physical world in the spectrum of sound in specific frequencies. When you, as a human, act in a specific way, you produce sound, an action, which is translated into the physical world as the societal and personal consequences of your action. We all are instruments playing the music of life. Our choices, our actions, our feelings, everything shapes our song. And it’s us who shape it based on who we are.

Both of these interpretations adhere to a very important aspect of the world, in my opinion. Naturality. The sounds the world produces are natural. The sound of cars, at least in our times, is natural. So is the sound of their horn. Of course the dog barks at you, it might register you as a possible intruder and probably wants to scare you away (maybe, I’m no dog psychologist :)). And it is annoying, but people can have bad days, and so they yell at public buses. In fact, it might not even be a bad day for them. Or even worse, they have reasons, and the ever increasing tension is, again, something that comes natural when people discuss difficult situations.

The way we act is natural to us. Even if it’s good or bad, it’s predetrmined based on our emotional state at the moment, on our overall psychological state which was shaped by our life’s journey, and of course our innate human traits. Whether we like something or not, it’s natural for us to act however we act. And the more thoughts we make, the more actions we take, the more defined our naturality is, the more distinct the sound.

It’s impossible for these two to not follow the natural way of things. Whatever sound is to be produced will be produced. And that’s where the music of today comes into play (hehe I rhymed there).

The music of today and how it obstructs you

Why should I hear the people on the bus complaining? Why should I just walk distances whilst practically doing nothing? If I listen to music, I won’t have to listen to the passive aggresive old lady on the bus! I will have something to do while walking! And in fact I like it, it makes me feel good! After all I can choose to listen to my favorite songs however much I want. And in fact, why not listen to music as I’m studying? These are very normal thoughts, especially for the modern human. The human who has immediate access to so many supernormal stimuli, and wants to keep themselves occupied at all times. However they obstruct us from the naturality of life.

You don’t experience the world when you listen to music. You shut yourself off from it. You cut off your sense of hearing from the outside world, and with it everything else. Because the act of listening to music changes your mind. You are not fully aware of what is happening around you. And as such you become indifferent. Indifferent to the emotions of others and the situations they find themselves in, and indifferent to the way the world operates. Some things you don’t even register, and as such it’s as if the reality you experienced is different to the objective reality that was unfolding very close to you. Listening to music obstructs the music of life.

And since it obstructs the music of life, it influences the music of your life. Instead of just letting your parents fighting, go down and calm them down and try to mediate the conversation. On the contrary, let the angsty people relish in their daily agony! But take note of that and be sure to not be like them today, and to carry a good attitude with you. Don’t just listen to music on the bus, if you see someone you know or someone who seems interesting talk to them. Same goes for going down a public road. If you’re walking alone at a quiet place, then maybe take some time for yourself and think through some things that are troubling you. Or be grateful for the good things in your life. And of course, instead of letting your emotions get the best of you and stop your momentum, keep yourself focused and keep on studying to work towards your goals and improve yourself.

It also changes you internally. Music can very much change how we feel. This can be a good thing, it’s exactly why movies have soundtracks, it’s why music accompanies many social gatherings, and it’s why listening to a good song you like can always cheer you up. However in many cases, music tells us how to feel. Soundtracks say when you should be sad or happy, the genre and the volume of the music tells you if this is a casual conversation-based event, or a festive instinctual event. When experiencing life, we need to go through difficult times. We should go through them, rather than try and brush them off with music, or even try and portray ourselves through a specific prism based on what we hear. And on the contrary, why need music and the perfect song to heighten the experience, when you might find yourself in a real life dream? Music is a tool, and as such we need to be conscious with how we use it. Which I think nicely leads me towards the end

The I won’t be using headphones for at least a month part of the title

Everything above isn’t to say that music in general is bad, of course not. It can be very beautiful and expressive. In fact, the way music is consumed might even be hurting music itself, or rather our capacity for enjoying and experiencing it. If we analyze it, this phenomenon is very much connected to devices which allow for the personalized and isolated consumption of music, i.e. earbuds and headphones. They are the devices which isolate us from the world. And that’s what I want to stop.

The best way to do that, is to not use my headphones. I plan on giving them to any friend of mine for a month, and see how this goes. My own specific eccentric challenge, ala Luke Smith. Maybe I’ll find out that I wrote here is meaningless bullshit. Or maybe I might have a point.

The lesson from all of this

We all have ideas in our minds. The idea of the music of life has been in mine for the better part of a decade. But it’s only now that I’ll try and see where that takes me. As a good friend and interesting person quoted: “The science itself may prove cynical. However, one musn’t forget that there is a scientific element in all things. The important truth is this. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”. Go out there and follow your ideas, try out things and see where they lead you. Nowhere, somewhere, doesn’t matter. You will be happy you followed what it is you want, and have learned something new about yourself in the process :)