I’ve mentioned that I like to just sit back in my easy chair, put headphones on and just listen to music without doing anything else. People say this is weird and say they would fall asleep or go crazy from not doing anything. Am I weird for doing this?
I do this if I get sleepy but it’s too early to go to bed. Put my noice cancelling headphones on, close my eyes, and usually nod off.
I wish I could just meditate like you, but my mind is always racing if I’m not sleeping or focused on something.
I just think you’re lucky to be able to tune everything out, not weird.
It’s the best way to analyze a track or just let my brain juices flow and just think or plan or just drift into the aether.
I listen to a lot of music while I’m doing things as background, but when I get a moment for it focused listening is a great experience. I don’t listen to the same type of music for both, though there’s definitely some overlap. But I’m not listening to funeral doom at work or Lightning Bolt sitting in bed before I go to sleep. I think both experiences are equally valid ways to enjoy and appreciate music.
The gym has given me an interesting middle ground as it is something that requires some planning and thinking at times, but at some point my body knows the movements well enough to do it more or less on its own. So the music I listen to ends up being the most diverse. It can either fade into the background while I’m setting up, making notes, etc. or be the main thing I’m focusing on toward the last reps of a movement I know well.
Doing something as in having a coffee or not doing anything at all ? I’ll have a coffee or a drink and listen, at most eat a light meal.
I’m weird in that I can’t listen to music and do something else because I can’t… listen I mean, it’s just noise in the background, like elevator music, so why bother? and listening while running, walking or cycling is beyond me as there’s so much going on and you need so much situational awareness when engaged in those avtivities.
I do this sometimes, especially when I am stressed out and just need time to relax and forget everything for a while by immersing myself in whatever I’m listening to. Same with just sitting on public transport. Sometimes, I just stare out the window, and everything I hear is just sound because I’m just in the moment. I’d otherwise be on my phone like everyone else.
No, you’re not weird.
…you’ve made me realise I actually havent done this in so long
I love music so much I have it on almost all of the time, but I admit, I’m almost always doing something else too.
That’s not weird at all. It’s very enjoyable.
I do both but I’m usually doing something because of ADHD. Sometimes it’s something mindless. My favorite time to listen to music is while walking around the city
I wouldn’t say weird. You can enjoy your music however you want.
Personally i wouldn’t be able to do it, having ADHD and sitting still doesn’t really go together.
Same here. I think walking and listening to music also qualifies as “just listening to music” for me, and I find it quite easy and enjoyable. I don’t think the sitting part is all that important, only the “just listen to music” part.
Good point, yeah that i do regularly, though not with the explicit purpose of walking to listen to music. Generally just walking to somewhere and combining that with listening music.
I thought that’s exactly what we pretentious audiophiles do.
I don’t appreciate being called out like this
Does vaping weed count as “doing something else”?
About as much as “sitting in a comfy chair”.
Converting ethanol into urea is one of my favorite activities
depends. I have music on like 90% of the time. Sometimes I like to put headphones or quality speakers on and close my eyes and really pay attention to the music. Otherwise it’s daily activities or kareoke
I “metaltate” several times a week. Dark room, closed eyes, focus on breathing, and headphones with black metal.
One of my earliest memories of listening to music was in exactly this style.
Our family inherited a mobile trailer that was parked in our front yard for a while. I was a young kid and would use the trailer as “my house”.
I distinctly remember plopping down a boombox on the “kitchen table”, which was just a fold out table with a chair on either side.
I popped in Dr. Dre’s Da Chronic into the cassette deck of the boombox and hit play. Listening to the whole album while sitting on the chair.
Fun times. Stop worrying about how other people consume entertainment and just do what feels good to you.
