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?
Do you ever spend even a second with your own thoughts?
I like music, love music, keep it on in the house and car but do not like headphones and wouldn’t dare use them on a walk or run because I’d get run over by a car.
I like the sound of the city, the birds singing, the crows cawing, kids yelling, even the distant sirens and LOVE the distant music of parties, so much. Cars going by with music. Incidental sound is engaging IMO not boring.
Yeah if being runover was a concern I’d definitely also not listen to music for sure.
I do actually like those sounds as well, just not every day on my way out for chores obviously.
It’s interesting how some people by way of their responses seem to suggest “a walk” and “a run” are something special a unique, and not their main and only way of getting around, probably as a result of car-centric design of some places and zoning laws?
I take it that’s the case for you as well, because of how you phrased “a walk or a run”? I’ve personally never gone for “a run” as an adult, but I rack up thousands of steps daily just getting my groceries home so I can eat food.
I bike to work and walk to anything close (have electric bike so that is my 1-6 mile ride usually, and under a mile I use my feet.). Also go for a Pokemon Go walk often, not to go anywhere. Or walk the dogs if husband can’t. A Run though, that I only do for exercise, and not if I can avoid it.
Car, I have one but my kid takes it to university so I don’t usually get to drive it. And I do prefer moving at a human pace, and not having to park the car.
ETA you asked about car-centric and yes oh yes my city is exactly that. Which is why I worry about getting run over.
And another add - I do kind of get where you are coming from - I can’t let go of thinking without enough to focus on but not too much. That is why I loved Jazzercise, not kidding. Exactly the right amount of paying attention that I could achieve “flow” and just dance, following so I didn’t have to think, not so complex I had to think, but complex enough I didn’t think about anything else. Running was SO boring. Real dance class too complex. Going out to dance, have to decide how to move. But to stop thinking here while moving around town is hazardous as fuck.
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.
I don’t listen to music in my car or at work, music is more of an active thing for me. I want to pay attention to it and sing along! If I’m focusing on something else, like driving, I just tune out the music anyways. Sometimes I’ll get stoned and play the OoT soundtrack in the background while I draw, but that’s about it. I don’t even think I own headphones, unless I have some packed away with my old iPod nano. It’s pretty cool how we all experience the same world in such different ways, isn’t it?
I actually pay attention to my environment? I don’t walk onto a busy road without looking?
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 appreciate the sentiment but you also are making some weird assumptions:
“Such a massive problem”
I said it’s not a big deal.
came off as wanting to prove everyone else who doesn’t listen to music is crazy
Normally I’d think that yeah, given the negative reception I must’ve phrased myself badly, but honestly after reading it all, I think y’all invented this in your heads.
It’s because you think the opposite - that anyone like me is crazy, so when I act like I am normal - you take it as an insult.
And I am normal, as far as I can tell, once more - this is the only place offline or online that anyone had an issue with this, and I’m not gonna set expectations for normality based on a hyperniche hipster forum thread.
I look at and listen to what’s going on around me, and think about what I see and hear.
Outside with other people is a dangerous place. Environmental awareness is needed. You’ll need your eyes and ears to sense danger.
Weird how you’re getting shit on for asking a question in “no stupid questions.” Fucking NT people acting high and mighty.
Aye
We all know what’s really going on ITT.
Ableism and then acting like we’re the assholes for defending ourselves.
I don’t even have a disability or anything. I have mild ADHD at best and I’m pretty medicated for it.
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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.
Sometimes I enjoy just basking in the dark morass of my own thoughts.
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 don’t listen to music or watch TV
I usually choose to have a podcast or music on, but sometimes it’s really nice to just appreciate my surroundings. I like to hear birdsong, or the wind, the rain. Even cars passing. It’s nice to be grounded in the world.
Even when I have music, I spend most of my time when I walk (which is a lot) not looking down at the ground. I look around, and I try to appreciate the little things. The other day, I noticed a really, really polished front door on a house I was walking past. The wood was so bright red and all of the metal was this gleaming silver, it was really striking! There are wild parakeets in the city I live in, so getting the chance to see these beautiful green birds swoop overhead is a treat, too. Where I live is quite hilly, so getting to see what I think are beautiful views of the urban sprawl interspersed with big tree plumages in the green spaces is pleasant, too. Sometimes it’s quite imposing, it’s not always a pretty and cheery sight, but it’s always beautiful.
When I don’t have music or podcasts playing, I feel like I can appreciate those sights a bit more. Picking up on snippets of other people’s lives is interesting, and I find my mood is easier regulated when I just ground myself in the world around me rather than disappearing up into my head with the podcast or music playing. If I have sound on that I focus on, I’ll often not really remember my walking to and from work, but if I’m just experiencing the world, I’ll usually find something memorable. I find that slowing down and taking the time away from tech has been nice for me, sometimes.
Interestingly enough, I’ve been suspecting I am on some sort of spectrum, but I typically feel like you do. Like I need to be listening to something when going for a walk because walking itself is inherently a boring activity.
But there have been certain days where I feel entirely different. I’m less in my head and more out of it, soak in my environment more, pay more attention to my posture, the way I’m stepping with my feet, the sounds around me, etc. And it’s not me forcing it either, I just feel genuinely more interested in that stuff.
I’ve been told I live in the future a lot, but on those days, I feel “normal”. Like, I’m more interested in and living in the present, instead of daydreaming all the time.
Not my place to say, so please take my comment with a grain of salt:
IMO, If you are avoiding living in the present, it might be important to define the emotion behind why. It could be a sign that you need sorta big changes in your life.
Really? What emotion have I been feeling since the age of like, 5, up to the age of 30?
Lol he’s not avoiding living in the present, neither are we, take your armchair psychologist crap outta here. It’s you who’s so simple you’re okay with bored contentment. It’s no wonder you people get hijacked by algos so easily, shit is hardly exciting to me because I cherish and nourish my life.
