Gives You Comfort

@soulsings

How do you think paying attention to music and being present while listening could help you, or anyone else, in your life?

We often listen to music while not paying enough attention to the lyrics. I think music is always so thoughtfully written and has a deeper underlying meaning. We may relate or find hope unexpectedly.

What else do you pay attention to that gives you comfort?

I pay attention to my surroundings. In reminded that there's more to life than my problems. My problems don't get to define me.

@soulsings

Well, being a musician means that I am a rather active listener. I cannot concentrate on certain tasks with a music background. Often had to ask colleagues to turn it off because my brain was highjacked.

I also listen to birds a lot in the Spring. Comes July, a lot of them birds will start changing their feathers and they won't sing as much so as not to attract attention on themselves until their new feathers grow.

I enjoy listening to classical music while reading the scores on Youtube. Otherwise, I prefer silence.

I have been living in headphones with music since i was 10. 35+ now still do it.

Get this! 100%

I read something somewhere about how at times we feel the music and other times we understand the lyrics. Sometimes the music is the rhythm and beat. It's a physical thing, a release. You can feel it in your veins. It brings goosebumps. 

Other times a line clicks. We connect with the story it tells. The song makes you feel seen and heard. We reflect and empathize. It can sometimes help us process things. 

I like to hear the birds, the crickets and peeper frogs at night and a gentle breeze through the whispering pines. I crave silence sometimes too. 

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I either attend in person or listen online to the mass of the day or just listen listen at random a homily.

That’s a really good point. Music has always been one of my go-to comforts, but I usually just put it on in the background. Being present and actually listening — like putting my phone down and focusing on the lyrics, melody, or even how it makes my body feel — could probably help a lot with the anxiety I’m feeling right now.

I think it would pull me out of that spiral of “what ifs” about the date. Instead of my mind racing, it could anchor me in the moment and calm my nerves. I’ve noticed that when I really listen to music I love, my breathing slows down and the heavy feeling in my chest eases. It’s like a mini reset for the brain. I should probably do that tonight or tomorrow before the date.

Besides music, what gives me comfort is walking outside at night when it’s quiet — just looking at the sky, listening to the city sounds in the distance, or even driving with the windows down. Something about that space helps me feel a bit more grounded.

What about you? Do you have a song or type of music you turn to when you’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed?

@soulsings

Music helps me process.

It allows me to find the words to capture how I truly feel.

It uplifts.

And regulates.

🩷

It helps me relax enough to get in tune with my emotions and process things.

Listening to audiobooks at high speed rate while doing chores or art is also highly regulating to me.

🖤

@soulsings

Hi Soul! 😊 ❤️

Many thanks for another great forum post! 😊 ❤️

Listening to music holds a great deal of value to me 🎶. When feeling a certain way and no where for that energy to go, it can be quite cathartic. Feeling upset, someone has been unkind? Well, I have a few really good pieces of music to listen to for that kind of thing. 

Helps for me to turn a negative interaction into some sort of positivity on my end. Music loud, get your "clean on" and the stored negative energy finds a better place to go. I get to sit back, look at a job well done and see some sort of benefit to me instead of holding on to something that I can't change. 

Sometimes I might feel a certain way and listening to certain pieces of music with congruent lyrics lets me know that I am not alone. Someone else must have been there too at some point or they wouldn't have written that song. 

Sometimes music can be a source of inspiration to get back up, get your head back in the game and move forward. Some things help for me to find my "center" again and sometimes not just for the listening, but visually seeing an artist in the "flow state". It's a beautiful thing to witness a musician that is playing for the sake of playing, someone that almost really isn't even there anymore as they have crossed a boundary, mentally and emotionally, they have pushed so far through that it's if they.....have become the music. Now that is honing your craft! 

Lyrics can sometimes bridge a gap or share with another, certain thoughts or feelings that might be hard to express. Sharing a piece of music with another person can be a gift 🎁. There is something in that piece of music that someone is trying to express to you. It's why I say "when someone asks that you listen to something, It might be good that you do so as there could be something they are trying to express". 

Music is somewhat of a hobby for me (I played 4 instruments in the past) and I have a deep appreciation for many genres. I have a tendency to become fully present in music. I listen to a piece at least 5 times over. I listen the first time to a piece in it's entirety. The next 4 or more times, I'm breaking it down into it's integral parts, what each instrument is doing independently. The last time I listen, I bring it all back together again, all the instruments and the lyrics together. Seems to be a way to be incredibly present there. 

Other things that I pay attention to that brings me comfort is the sound of rain, wind, the birds, frogs, cicadas, the sound of a squirrels nails scratching on my wooden deck or them chomping on an acorn. 

Fun factoid....I recently learned why it is that the sounds of birds chirping might be so comforting to humans and it made complete sense to me. Birds are sending a message to other birds. They have their very own way of communicating. They are doing fun things, informative things. When you hear birds it represents safety to us because when the birds stop chirping, they are perceiving some sort of threat. Birds chirping, it's an "all clear" sign. 🐦

Many thanks for yet again, another fun and thought provoking forum post! 😊

*high fives* 😊 and *hugs* ❤️

p.s. the link for Kermit the Frog "it's not easy being green" that I sent to you the other day, oh it's a fun one to sing if you have a sinus infection 🤣 🐸