I knew there was a reason that I enjoy having soft music playing in the background, even if I’m not actively listening to it.

In the past I’ve been chided by those close to me for my preference for constantly surrounding myself with noise of some type. Some have even gone so far as to say I was afraid of silence. Although far from the truth, I do find that I’m most stimulated when there’s some sort of sound in the background. It can be the radio, the television, even the sound of rain, but I find it stimulating.

A bustling little tea shop or the outdoor patio of a nearby restaurant/bakery was an ideal studying spot when I was in college, and to this day I enjoy working in cafes and coffee shops, the chatter of other patrons creating an invigorating backdrop.

I often have set my music to such soft levels that it’s not even immediately noticeable, but it’s there. The more my ears focus, adjust and “tune in” to the noise into the wee hours of the evening, especially as silence falls everywhere else in the house, the more I turn the volume down, not up, adjusting it so it remains a background piece and not the main focus of my concentration.

I always considered this just one of my own idiosyncratic habits, a byproduct of my love of music in all its forms, but now it seems there may be other reasons for this particular penchant of mine. Not only that, I’ve probably already been benefiting from it for years.Continue Reading

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