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I've always thought that it was quite strange for people to listen to music in the shower until I recently decided to try it, and I no longer just have to think that it is strange but now I know that it is weird. I found myself unable to think and unable to really shower, I was too distracted by the sound coming out of my phone to be productive at all, even though it was being drowned out by the normal sound of water hitting the ground. This experience caused me to think about why I liked showering in silence in the first place and I came to realize that doing that is among the few times I give myself to be free of outside stimulation. Times where we can just be bored like that are incredibly important, and relaxing, I realized that this is why I've always found showers so refreshing when I'm stressed, they give me a chance to be removed from whatever was stressing me and removed from the flawed world we live in. Listening to music puts me back into the world I was subcosciously escaping by stepping into the shower.
After that experience I wondered why anyone would want to block their thoughts out like that, but really that is the reason they do it, too many people these days are not comfortable with their own thoughts. This reminds me of a scene from Fahrenheit 451 where Montag was riding on a train with loud music playing, the substanceless noise drove him mad as he was trying to think deeper thoughts but he was surrounded by people who weren't bothered by it. These days there are less and less people like Montag who want to be left alone with their thoughts and more people who are tuning out their thoughts by playing music in the shower, looking at memes on the toilet, and doing whatever else they can to avoid actually thinking for themselves. This why I titled the article where I encouraged you all to read Fahrenheit 451 The Dystopia We Live in.
And things really only seem to be getting worse. Recently I read an article that compared modern music to junk food and it was completely right. (Thanks Arjun, I forgot I was going to write on this topic) Modern music, if we can even be generous enough to call it music, has lost all substance, much of it is just simple repeated beats paired with lyrics that are meaningless at best and degenerate and pitiful at worst. Much of it is not an art worth consuming, that is, again, if we are even going to be generous enough to call it art.
Of course this is not to say that I think we shouldn't listen to music, we should seek after things which are virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, and there exists plenty of music that fits those qualifiers. But we should be conscience of how we use music, we should never use it to drown out our thoughts like one would do with drugs or alcohol, in fact we should be aware that in some cases music can have the same effect on us as drugs or alcohol. If you are to listen to music, listen to uplifting music that stimulates good thought rather than suppresses it, and listen to it at appropriate times, don't deprive yourself of precious quiet time where you can be alone with your thoughts. I realize that this may be hard for some of you, there was a time in my life where I struggled to think deeply without music playing in my ears, that time has passed and I am much happier now than I was then.
Give yourself more time where you are free from distractions and outside stipulation so that you are able to think clearly and gain the inspiration necessary to make corrections in your life and produce creations that will make this world a better place.