I had a comically bad day yesterday, like dropping things, almost lost my keys down the drain on the sidewalk, spilled soup at the store near a makeup section, almost tore my pants, got back from the store only to find out I was out of TP, etc.
It was more funny than anything else, like so much random trivial bad luck in one day is like something out of some 90s Tom Hanks comedy.
But there was one thing that actually annoyed me - on my way back from the store on my grocery trip, my phone suddenly went from a healthy 7% to 0% and died. I was stuck with no music for the remainder of the walk back.
Soooo I was forced to listen to the sound of well - nothing at all basically.
Just birds chirping, wind blowing, leaves rustling, all as I walked the same path I walk all the time and see the same things I’ve seen hundreds of times, just waiting to get home.
Don’t get me wrong I love where I live and everything, it’s a really cool city with good pedestrian infrastructure, I almost never even get close to a car and it’s not some smelly euro village either, but seeing the same things I’ve already seen and having no stimuli at all, it wasn’t that big a deal but it was unpleasant.
That got me thinking - I sometimes see folks not wearing earphones outside, and I’ve heard on more than one occasion from some acquaintances that they don’t listen to music outside, and I wonder - why’s that?
Why would you choose to do that?
And, what do y’all like, do, exactly? How do you deal with the monotony of your grocery trips or things like that when you don’t even have music on? Do you just never get bored of walking the same roads/neighborhoods w/e day after day?
Weird how you’re getting shit on for asking a question in “no stupid questions.” Fucking NT people acting high and mighty.
Why would you choose to do that?
I’m easily distracted and am usually occupied with my own thoughts. So, not hearing traffic, other people, and my general surroundings is actually stressful for me; relying on vision alone would be dangerous. I do a lot better keeping my ears open so I can relax, muse about this or that in my head, and let any sudden sounds or irregularities in my environment catch my attention.
Edit: By musing, I’m actively problem-solving fix-it situations in my house, thinking about software projects I have going, exercising mindfulness for better mental heath, self-assessing where my body aches/hurts, building fictional narratives for D&D, and so on. It’s seldom idle time up in here.
I never listen to music. When I’m running errands, I listen to the birds and the wind. I watch the leaves change colors. I chat with people I know by sight. I stop by stores I don’t need anything from just to chat with the owners. I meet friends doing their shopping and we decide to go to see a play next weekend. I sit down at a terrasse to have coffee with my kid’s former piano teacher. Think the movie Amelie, but in small-town France instead of Paris. I love my life.
I look at and listen to what’s going on around me, and think about what I see and hear.
Sometimes I enjoy just basking in the dark morass of my own thoughts.
I don’t even listen to music on a regular basis when I’m inside. It’s more something I would do actively from time to time, say a couple of times per month.
I’m taking steps to stop myself consuming content constantly so I’ve stopped listening to podcasts when I’m out. If I’m on a long train or plane journey in the future I’ll probably bring my earphones along but only then. Now I just walk and think.
I’ve got a layer of conscious that constantly plays music in the background of my mind…personal private organic music machine.
Outside with other people is a dangerous place. Environmental awareness is needed. You’ll need your eyes and ears to sense danger.
I don’t listen to music or watch TV
Sorry OP, you got downvoted in so many comments, some of which I thought was undeserved, but some of it is deserved. You asked a question, but came off as wanting to prove everyone else who doesn’t listen to music is crazy. Everyone is different, you do you. I think it’s very important to train brain to be content without any stimulation and therefore, I think, I play music in my brain, I plan rest of my day or next day, and most of all I introspect when I’m walking around.
And my life isn’t even complicated and I find tons of things to Introspect, so hard for me to imagine people get bored with introspection, but you do you. If boredom is such a massive problem for you because of ADHD, perhaps carry a power bank.
I actually pay attention to my environment? I don’t walk onto a busy road without looking?
I think the question is best answered by reversing it. Why do you choose to listen to music?
Now don’t get me wrong I listen to a ton of stuff. I have an mp3 player for air travel and I listen to all kinds of things in my car and for my whole shift at a manufacturing job I used to have.
But out on the street, on a bike or on the trails I never have any music on. From a practical standpoint it’s simply safer to be aware of what’s going on, but that’s not the point for me.
I use that time to just let my mind wander and internalize info I learned that day or to look back on things that happened recently. That boredom is soon replaced with thoughts and daydreams and feelings and memories. And it’s nice to see my part of the world as it is, without any filter and seeing how places and people change day by day.
Same exactly for me. I listen to tons of music at work and at home on my own time. But never outside.
I don’t use a car, almost all of my travel is by walking. So I listen to music for the same reason you listen to anything in your car or at your job.
But for me it is also a way to forget about work and tune out the shit around me and focus my inner thoughts and inner life and also observe the world and get inspired.
Y’all must live some pretty unsafe places if you need to pay attention to your surroundings that much. My condolences.
Enjoy the world around me. Using the extra sensory input to avoid being run over by cars.
Dons right hand man: alright, the mark has started not wearing their headphones. This throws a wrench in our plans. What’s our counter?
Bobby 2: alls wes gotsa dos is just distract em. Bobby 1, you wait behind the bushes in the parking lot. Wiseguy Phil waits across the street. As soon as 1 sees the mark, he lays on the horn. Then Phil just runs em over while they are looking at 1.
DRHM: but we only got one car!
Bobby 2: sos steals one, do I gotta dos all the thinkin around heres?
Is it really that bad in America? Like I lived in London where cars were plentiful as well but honestly I never had to worry about them, even when I crossed a red by accident or something like that they go so slowly that it was fairly easy to dodge them.
I’m gonna take a safe guess that London has generally much smaller streets and cars than the majority of America, so it would be safer yes. Outside of the cities and a couple of streets in smaller town centres, most cars are likely to be going 50km/h or more down a road with spotty or missing sidewalks and there’s probably a 50% chance of it being an F150. Now I have had good luck with drivers here slowing for me, but it only takes one time to be permanently crippled… So is it “that” bad? Depends what your “that” is, but it is worse yes.
/boggle
I don’t require constant stimulation.
I do, but the leaves rustling and birds chirping provides it for me. OP describing that as a bad thing is what boggles me.
Yeah no kidding!
I like it too, but obviously it gets a bit boring in the same area after the 5th through to the 365th time
I take one of two routes for an evening walk almost every day. It’s never occurred to me to listen to music or anything else while I do.
I live in a rural area with nice scenery. If you pay attention, it is different every day. Something new is starting to grow/bloom/die back, new birds have arrived or departed, the clouds are different, the air feels different, neighbors sheep are being silly in a different way.
I go specifically at sunset, so I find that very stimulating and no two sunsets are the same. I think about my day, my plans, goals, etc. It’s peaceful.
That’s crazy, I would go nuts from the monotony of something like that.
I don’t live rurally and I love it, I have nice scenery as well, and I notice all the same things and think about all the same things just like you, but keeping one of my senses busied and tied down is important to facilitate mindfulness, not the opposite.
It is interesting to hear your unique and unusual perspective though.
I’m sure you have a bunch of songs you don’t mind hearing over and over, so it’s not that different to enjoy your environment even if it’s mostly the same every day.
do birds chirp on a loop near you? Mine keep a certain cadence but its always unique.
There was an elective college class that I took that was about movies. There were some really meh movies but one that surprised me was called Smoke. This scene here stuck with me the most because it changed the way I look at the areas I see every day.
This post reminded of this Wikipedia article someone shared here a bit ago. If you don’t pay attention, everything becomes the same.
ngl, sounds like a skill issue
Ngl, If I wanted regurgitated buzzwords I’d talk to a fucking LLM or god forbid a redditor.
Did you play Dark Age of Camelot?
Also, I require constant stimulation.
I did.
Then you must be old, as am I. Though my obsession was Everquest.
EQ and later WoW. I didn’t have enough time to de EQ right.
