Letting music become an obsession

[MoraWintersoul]

Do you really think you're happier without listening to music? I find that really hard to believe, especially if you were prone to being so affected by it. There is a chance there's a world of musical genres out there that would have benefited you as much as this "depressive music" dragged you down. And there's the tossed iPod floating in a river somewhere and someone's gonna pass by it and say "oh geez, imagine being the bloke who accidentally dropped his iPod into the sewers" because there's just no logical reason for anyone to toss it down themselves.

Life has many wonders and music is just one of them. I'd like to experience something else.

Well so do I, but when I want to take a break from music and the internet, I don't toss my computer out the window.

We all hear those stories of people tossing their cigarettes and junk food in the trash and you probably wanted to do something drastic about it but have you ever heard of anyone experiencing serious music addiction like the one you described now? You should have double-checked whether it's possible to be so addicted to using that one piece of equipment before you even sold it or recycled it, let alone thrown it away. It's not a Silmaril, it wasn't burning your hand

Moreover, I am also very uneasy going out without my cellphone to listen to music to, but that's because I find to be it a lovely companion. I may be anxious but this town is just full of people I don't even want to make eye contact with, let alone have them approach me in the street and strike up a conversation. I think it's a valid reason to isolate yourself. If I wanted to beat my anxiety, I wouldn't toss my cellphone away and then go without it because I have no other choice, I'd look at that motherfucker resting on some shelf and say "nuh uh I ain't carrying you with me today" and then ride off into the sunset without it.

[Ħ]

It was almost a year ago. Do I regret it? I personally benefit from the decision, but obviously I did nature wrong. What's done is done.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Not sure how related this is, but one musical habit I've seen become an obsession to a detriment is the rating of music. I followed this one guy on Rate Your Music - someone many of us know quite well whose username rhymed with nix o' dock - who got to a point where he was rating a hundred items a week (albums, songs, etc.) He eventually stopped and basically said, "It got to the point I cared more about rating music and saying I knew of one more band than actually enjoying said band."

That's a harmful, obsessive place that can really hinder one's enjoyment of anything, really.

[The Letter M]

Not sure how related this is, but one musical habit I've seen become an obsession to a detriment is the rating of music. I followed this one guy on Rate Your Music - someone many of us know quite well whose username rhymed with nix o' dock - who got to a point where he was rating a hundred items a week (albums, songs, etc.) He eventually stopped and basically said, "It got to the point I cared more about rating music and saying I knew of one more band than actually enjoying said band."

That's a harmful, obsessive place that can really hinder one's enjoyment of anything, really.

Sounds understandable. I can't imagine being a rater/critic of something I truly enjoy and love. I feel like the whole process would destroy my enjoyment, having to look at things more objectively and not let myself become immersed in the actual music.

I'm also glad that, after my initial years of 'discovering' prog rock music, that I leveled out and realized that there were some bands I just didn't like or could really get into, and after I saturated my ears with enough prog, I knew what not to listen to anymore, or I just stopped discovering new bands. I fell in love with a core group of bands that I decided to learn and listen to up-and-down, front-to-back. Do I regret not being able to get into other bands in the last few years because of that? A little, but I have made some newer discoveries in the last 2-3 years (like Anathema, Riverside, Moon Safari, and a few others), but I still can't get into some of the older 70's prog bands that I missed out on in my formative years of becoming a prog head (like Van Der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, Camel, and many many more).

I guess one could say I know what I like and I like what I know.

-Marc.