It's no secret that people use music as a way to relax. For me and many like me it can take on a whole new meaning. Music is personal. You can connect with it any way you chose. A lot of the lyrics are open to interpretation. It should be no surprise that you see a lot of people on the autism spectrum wearing headphones.
Music for me is sort of like a security blanket. I use it when I want to relax after a long day or just want to escape into my own little world. I like things that are constant. I have this one CD that I listen to when I'm working out in the basement. I just turn it on and do my thing. If I decide to change it I do so very little. Certain songs just seem to evoke feelings of euphoria and take my mind off some of the stress I put on my muscles when lifting. I think that if I can just do enough reps before or until I get to this point in the song I'll be happy with myself. Even when I played college baseball I went off on my own and didn't stick to my workout partner. (This was partly due to having to adjust some of the heights on the machines we were using because I'm short). I never needed a partner to push me into lifting more than I did the day or week before. During the winter I would work out at school and be alone most of the time. I'd bring my own CD and just go to it. If anyone I knew came in they would always wonder what I was listening to and, more importantly, why. People wonder how I can be motivated by 'Cortez the Killer' by Neil or 'No Quarter' by Zeppelin. I guess I should go buy myself an IPod. Some of the songs do pump me up like 'Trampled Underfoot' but I feeling comfortable in a relaxed state of mind is all I need to go about my business. I can see how the length of some of the songs like 'Achilles Last Stand' would maybe be too much of one thing for some people but I find the longer the more I can focus.
I realize that I don't listen to the same type of music that most of my peers, working out or otherwise. I discovered classic rock at about 13 and its been that way ever since. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and selected songs from most of the artists of the 60s-80s plus selections of 90s musicians dominate what I listen to. My biggest love in terms of music is Neil Young, hands down. I'm not going to go into detail now about Neil but will probably end up making him a subject of a latter post; and you'll see why when that time comes. One major theme with the music that I listen to is that it is done with instruments and not sound effects made in a studio. Some newer musicians do a good job playing guitar and I'm not taking anything away from them. I respect the craft of the rappers and others; I just chose not to listen to the vast majority. There is just something different about having to play an instrument(s) each time you perform a song live instead of just singing/rapping to a beat. It creates a lot of variation and having to move with the flow.
The main theme of the songs that I like is that there is a lot going on. Many of the Zeppelin/Floyd/Neil Young songs have fast beats and/or or other sounds coming from I don't know how many instruments. This type of over-stimulation is exactly what my brain craves. What my brain is able to do it multi task, in every sense of the world. I have conversations with people without even looking at them and other oddities of that nature. I count things compulsively when I get nervous or bored. The introduction of music stops all this. My brain is so into all the sounds coming from the music that there is no way that I could possible focus on anything else. I'm too busy processing all the sounds to care much about any bad that is going on in my life. The only exception is when I'm driving. Of course I pay attention to the road but I hardly ever refrain from moving my fingers up and down the steering wheel with the beat, as it playing guitar. I even throw in a head bob every now and again for good measure. Once I get going I'm like a little kid with his Raffi tape; I don't have a care in the world because I'm in my own place that my brain has created. If you haven't discovered how music can help you relax when you've had a long day then I suggest you just push play. I may need to augment this post and add some more thoughts in the future but for now just let me know what you think.
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