Imbolc Valentine Moon
Found the Ipod shuffle. I mentioned it a few posts back. As I finish the last rearranging in the study, I’m listening to music through earphones. Becoming part of the current generation. A soundtrack for the activities helps. I’m not sure what I think of the tendency younger folk have to soundtrack their whole life. Does it add or detract? Don’t know.
I’m listening to it right now and it does demand at least some attention, so I imagine it does distract me from certain trains of thought. But. Does it stimulate others that I wouldn’t have had?
My suspicion, though only that now, is that the music is a distraction from contemplation, from moving below the surface of things to a different level. I base that notion on the firmly identified limits on multi-tasking. Listening is a task. On the other hand I think nothing of writing with music coming out of loud speakers. In fact I just ordered a new set of speakers for the study so I can do just that.
Does having the earbuds in change the experience? I think it does. Makes it more immediate, blocks out the outer world. Which I sense is its primary attraction to those rarely seen without the wiry appendages. For me, unless I’m involved in manual, non-intellectual labor, I’m not sure. Gonna experiment for a while.