Music is powerful. Have you ever walked around with headphones on, blocking out the sounds of the regular world? Yes, I know it’s anti-social and all, but forget about that for a minute. Walking around with music that you feel can change the whole world around you. Walking down a city street becomes a cinematic experience as your music becomes the soundtrack of life. When I walk through the world with a headphone cord extending from my ears, I feel like I’m in my own private world, separated from the rest by a one way window. I see but I am not seen. Sure, they see my body, but they don’t see what I am seeing and experiencing, and without that, are they really seeing me?

Oh, and my experiences, wow. It’s like everyone becomes a dancer as every action, every movement is made in relation to the music being pumped into my ears. It is not just background to what I see, it gives definition, clarity and emotion to what I see. The music can make a solitary walk through the city at night be one of the most dramatic events ever, the men washing the streets becoming grand actors showing an endless depth of emotion through their simple, methodical motions. The music can turn every member of the Saturday afternoon shopping crowd into my dance partner as our steps follow some intricate pattern that allows us to get where we’re going without collisions. A sad song can turn the girl joyfully jumping rope into a symbol of good things lost. A joyful song can take her happiness and paint the world a brighter color with it.

Sometimes I feel a little guilty for cutting off the world like that, for making it impossible for people to initiate polite conversations, but it’s hard to give in to that guilt and take off the headphones. The world is simply too beautiful to resist when various melodies, harmonies and rhythms highlight its poetry.

OK, back to my music. Nice talking to you.