Music as a catalyst rather than a distraction

girl posing in front of neon sign with headphones

I watched this YouTube video earlier about this girl who did a science experiment on herself and didn’t listen to music for 3 months! Can you believe that? It was interesting. I definitely won’t be doing that personally but it was a new concept I’ve never heard of before. As she mentions in the video, there’s much more dialogue about social media addiction for example, but we’ve never heard anyone really discuss music addiction. She goes on to explain how it went, what she defined addiction as, what the results are/what she learned about herself, and how she will likely proceed moving forward.

One thing she mentioned is that music can be a distraction or even an avoidance mechanism. She talked about her awareness of how, when she’d suddenly feel an emotion, like something bothering her for example but she doesn’t really want to dive into it, she’ll turn on a song. A sad song even, to romanticize and exacerbate that emotion until it’s something completely different and far enough removed that she can function until it comes up again, essentially serving as this emotional fog. I definitely realized what she meant because I love to play sad songs, especially when I’m already sad 😂 (although I also listen to sad songs when I’m happy. What’s the ‘normal’ times to listen to sad songs anyways?), and her experience is definitely refreshing. But reflecting on my own behaviors, sometimes music really does help me sit with those emotions.

My brain has a tendency to go everywhere at once and often times, I forget things so easily until they comeback to me at inconvenient times. I remember watching the film ‘Limitless’ starring Bradley Cooper, for the 1st time. If you’ve never seen it, it basically centers around this newfound drug ($800/pop btw) that taps into every inch of your brain, every inch of your memory. In turn, it maxes out your functionality, especially your attention to detail, to where you’re basically winning at life. You can cheat the system, you can pull bitches, you can do anything you want. The possibilities are literally “Limitless”.

But every drug has it’s comedown. Every high takes its toll, one that you have to pay every single time. So yeah, definitely love that movie. But yeah, back to my point, I was amazed. Impressed to say the least. I probably would’ve got addicted to that drug too 😂. But of course, this is the real world, and I’m doomed to forget everything. Or am I?

The truth is, what I’ve been doing and will continue to do since it’s working for me, is anytime I have a thought, or a feeling (okay about 60% of the time if we’re being honest 🤫) , I do 1 of 2 things: if I’m busy at that moment, I’ll make a note to look into it later. And if I’m NOT busy, I’ll dive into it then and there. Like I said, my thoughts get thunk at a crazy fast pace so it’s hard to keep up with them. And one thing that helps, is putting on mood music. Depending on how I’m feeling in that moment: for example right now, I have a ‘gloomy dark academia for the brainy witch’ playlist going (this ‘Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” in C-Sharp Minor etc.” by Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul Lewis got me LOCKED IN 🔒). It’s tickling my mysterious but thoughtful Scorpio moon 😉. It’s inspiring more insight from within, and connecting the dots between them where I might otherwise struggle or jump to a completely different train of thought losing my ideas. And why not use the tools available to me do so?

It’s definitely worth gaining awareness of how you incorporate music into your life and whether or not you use it as a distraction, a catalyst, or something else entirely. And it might be worth doing a fun expirement on yourself like Lrnjulie did in her YouTube video, or reshaping your relationship with music by other means. But if you’re anything like me and music helps you focus your thinking, I highly recommend making playlists that cater to you and your different headspaces. Or, if you prefer, checking out and saving the different playlists I have categorized by moods on my Vibes page, to help you lock in and deepen your understanding of yourself.