Do you ever spend even a second with your own thoughts?
this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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I like music, love music, keep it on in the house and car but do not like headphones and wouldn't dare use them on a walk or run because I'd get run over by a car.
I like the sound of the city, the birds singing, the crows cawing, kids yelling, even the distant sirens and LOVE the distant music of parties, so much. Cars going by with music. Incidental sound is engaging IMO not boring.
Yeah if being runover was a concern I'd definitely also not listen to music for sure.
I do actually like those sounds as well, just not every day on my way out for chores obviously.
It's interesting how some people by way of their responses seem to suggest "a walk" and "a run" are something special a unique, and not their main and only way of getting around, probably as a result of car-centric design of some places and zoning laws?
I take it that's the case for you as well, because of how you phrased "a walk or a run"? I've personally never gone for "a run" as an adult, but I rack up thousands of steps daily just getting my groceries home so I can eat food.
I bike to work and walk to anything close (have electric bike so that is my 1-6 mile ride usually, and under a mile I use my feet.). Also go for a Pokemon Go walk often, not to go anywhere. Or walk the dogs if husband can't. A Run though, that I only do for exercise, and not if I can avoid it.
Car, I have one but my kid takes it to university so I don't usually get to drive it. And I do prefer moving at a human pace, and not having to park the car.
ETA you asked about car-centric and yes oh yes my city is exactly that. Which is why I worry about getting run over.
And another add - I do kind of get where you are coming from - I can't let go of thinking without enough to focus on but not too much. That is why I loved Jazzercise, not kidding. Exactly the right amount of paying attention that I could achieve "flow" and just dance, following so I didn't have to think, not so complex I had to think, but complex enough I didn't think about anything else. Running was SO boring. Real dance class too complex. Going out to dance, have to decide how to move. But to stop thinking here while moving around town is hazardous as fuck.
Sorry OP, you got downvoted in so many comments, some of which I thought was undeserved, but some of it is deserved. You asked a question, but came off as wanting to prove everyone else who doesn't listen to music is crazy. Everyone is different, you do you. I think it's very important to train brain to be content without any stimulation and therefore, I think, I play music in my brain, I plan rest of my day or next day, and most of all I introspect when I'm walking around.
And my life isn't even complicated and I find tons of things to Introspect, so hard for me to imagine people get bored with introspection, but you do you. If boredom is such a massive problem for you because of ADHD, perhaps carry a power bank.
I appreciate the sentiment but you also are making some weird assumptions:
"Such a massive problem"
I said it's not a big deal.
came off as wanting to prove everyone else who doesn't listen to music is crazy
Normally I'd think that yeah, given the negative reception I must've phrased myself badly, but honestly after reading it all, I think y'all invented this in your heads.
It's because you think the opposite - that anyone like me is crazy, so when I act like I am normal - you take it as an insult.
And I am normal, as far as I can tell, once more - this is the only place offline or online that anyone had an issue with this, and I'm not gonna set expectations for normality based on a hyperniche hipster forum thread.
Outside with other people is a dangerous place. Environmental awareness is needed. You'll need your eyes and ears to sense danger.
I look at and listen to what's going on around me, and think about what I see and hear.
Weird how you're getting shit on for asking a question in "no stupid questions." Fucking NT people acting high and mighty.
Aye
We all know what's really going on ITT.
Ableism and then acting like we're the assholes for defending ourselves.
I don't even have a disability or anything. I have mild ADHD at best and I'm pretty medicated for it.
Why would you choose to do that?
I'm easily distracted and am usually occupied with my own thoughts. So, not hearing traffic, other people, and my general surroundings is actually stressful for me; relying on vision alone would be dangerous. I do a lot better keeping my ears open so I can relax, muse about this or that in my head, and let any sudden sounds or irregularities in my environment catch my attention.
Edit: By musing, I'm actively problem-solving fix-it situations in my house, thinking about software projects I have going, exercising mindfulness for better mental heath, self-assessing where my body aches/hurts, building fictional narratives for D&D, and so on. It's seldom idle time up in here.
Sometimes I enjoy just basking in the dark morass of my own thoughts.
I never listen to music. When I'm running errands, I listen to the birds and the wind. I watch the leaves change colors. I chat with people I know by sight. I stop by stores I don't need anything from just to chat with the owners. I meet friends doing their shopping and we decide to go to see a play next weekend. I sit down at a terrasse to have coffee with my kid's former piano teacher. Think the movie Amelie, but in small-town France instead of Paris. I love my life.
I don't listen to music or watch TV
I've got a layer of conscious that constantly plays music in the background of my mind...personal private organic music machine.
I'm taking steps to stop myself consuming content constantly so I've stopped listening to podcasts when I'm out. If I'm on a long train or plane journey in the future I'll probably bring my earphones along but only then. Now I just walk and think.
Yeah I don't listen to podcasts, but art isn't content and music is definitely the former.
I don't even listen to music on a regular basis when I'm inside. It's more something I would do actively from time to time, say a couple of times per month.
Enjoy the world around me. Using the extra sensory input to avoid being run over by cars.
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/boggle
I don’t require constant stimulation.
I do, but the leaves rustling and birds chirping provides it for me. OP describing that as a bad thing is what boggles me.
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Did you write this post deliberately to trigger us? Some examples; The phone died when it should have 7% left, spilling soup at a store, smelly euro village and of course the main question.
This is 100% ironic bait.
But to answer the question, you shouldn't use headphones because they are dependent on your phone. You use this because it runs on its own D Cells and doesn't need cell service.
Keeping good music to yourself is rude.
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It feels like satire to actually say you cannot imagine life without constantly listening to music. Is it satire?
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Just birds chirping, wind blowing, leaves rustling
To me that just sounds kinda nice
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I think the question is best answered by reversing it. Why do you choose to listen to music?
Now don't get me wrong I listen to a ton of stuff. I have an mp3 player for air travel and I listen to all kinds of things in my car and for my whole shift at a manufacturing job I used to have.
But out on the street, on a bike or on the trails I never have any music on. From a practical standpoint it's simply safer to be aware of what's going on, but that's not the point for me.
I use that time to just let my mind wander and internalize info I learned that day or to look back on things that happened recently. That boredom is soon replaced with thoughts and daydreams and feelings and memories. And it's nice to see my part of the world as it is, without any filter and seeing how places and people change day by day.
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Are you trolling us?
If not, try getting into meditation, so you can learn to appreciate the moment for what it is, rather than seek constant stimulation.
Technology is ruining humanity, no wonder so many people are lonely and depressed.
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