"The Truth Resists Simplicity"

“I love music so much. I listen to it every day!” I have heard that sentiment time and time again. I even said it myself. Yet, as I got to thinking, I realized that if I truly loved music, I would need some time away from it. In this modern society, thanks to inventions such as iPods, Droids, iTunes, and even Youtube, we have direct access to music whenever we want it! That’s fantastic, right? Anytime you want to hear a song WHAM! there it is! Yet, with this instant access to music, I feel like I, personally, am dilluting my desire for it. I still enjoy it, don’t get me wrong. But there’s something about having a song you like stuck in your head for days! You just crave hearing that particular song, but for some reason, you can’t get access to it. Maybe your iPod is dead, maybe the internet is down. The point is: you are limited in your access to your music. So, your desire grows. Even if you manage to ignore the fact you want to hear a song and carry on with your life, your subconscious still wants to hear the song. So once you eventually do hear that song, 3, maye 4 days later, you get a much stronger reaction to it than you normally would if you heard it RIGHT when you wanted to.

Back in the 70’s and 80’s, the best way to hear music was on vinyl. Now, I am not a child of that generation, I am just stating an observation. Because the record player was not exactly portable, it was a much less instant accessibility. Listening to music became an experience. Something that would be done with friends in the basement or the garage. You could put on an album and listen to every song. And because you couldn’t instantly hears those songs whenever you wanted to, you appreciated the music much more while it was playing.

What I find really helps me is to take a day where I don’t go on iTunes or my iPod or Youtube for that matter and prevent myself from actively listening to music for a day or two. If I hear music passively, in a commercial or video or something, that’s fine. So, after my period of rest from music, when I finally do hear the sound waves touch and vibrate my eardrums, the response I have to it is much greater and I find myself appreciating the music a lot more. If you allow yourself to crave music, to desire it, you’ll find yourself appreciating it a lot more once you have it. I do believe music is part of my life, a HUGE part of my life. I would love to listen to music everyday, but I don’t want my desire for the music I love to become jaded.

Just like in music, when a groove is being played, and suddenly the whole band rests, the audience craves the groove, they are suspended in silence, their ears trying to find the groove they were used to. Once the groove comes back, the audience goes wild because of the desire that the rest grew inside of them.

Listening to music is amazing. It’s one of my favorite things about life. But, don’t be afraid to rest every now and then. You never know what you might gain from it.