From this:

I have a terrible confession to make. For many years I was a person who often would put on instrumental music as I read, did laundry or did some sort of work. I could never use vocal music, singer that I am I could never concentrate with it on, but orchestral or piano music could easily serve as background music for just about any activity.

Of course, as a result, I never heard any of it. It was just there. But recently things have changed. I can no longer listen to any music and not hear it. I find I can no longer read and have music on because I am always distracted by the music. These days, I ‘m getting a lot of enjoyment from purely instrumental (non-vocal) concerts and changing the ratio of vocal to non-vocal music in my life.

I used to put background music a lot as well. Sometimes a symphonic work, sometimes a singer. Anything, really. I would even put something on and then vacuum! Geesh.

I think it had something to do with laziness. Not lazy as in “she never gets anything done and her house is a mess!” but as in “lazy listener.”

Listening takes not only time, but energy. True listening, that is.

More on this later. Maybe.
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