When I’m listening to music especially instrumental music, I don’t know how many details are involved but I realise that I’m not thinking about the rest of the world. I stop checking the time. I forget everything I need to do next. Background noise, or anything else that distracts me falls away. I hear only the sounds around me. There are no words, so there is nothing to make sense of, or examine. I do not feel that I am drawn into a story or told a message. It’s something that becomes something that I hear but don’t need to process in any sort of particular manner.

I’ve experimented with lots of different music, and the ones I go back to most are instrumentals. I don’t have to figure out what the song means or if I’m okay with the words. I don’t think about the person who wrote it or their intentions. It gets easier to sit, or stroll, or putter without thinking too much. When the music is sound without a voice, it is something I can leave in the background as much as I want or follow just as closely. If I’m ready to stop listening, I can hit pause. There’s no buildup or big moment that I feel compelled to wait for.

Sometimes I listen with headphones. Sometimes I play it out loud. Never mind exactly how I hear it. It’s just like, this seems like a helpful thing to have on.