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Music and Internal Worlds

Little_Sticks

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This might be related to introversion specifically, but I've always had a problem when it comes to music. I listen to music that fits my different moods and allows me to trance myself into different internal worlds full of, well ... passion. I've tried to share this with other people, but when I do, they usually don't understand or see what I do and will get nothing out of it.

And maybe this is enneagram 4 related, but does anyone else have this problem and if so, what do you do about it? Or what do you do that makes you feel better about it? Because it kind of frustrates me sometimes; I feel like there is too huge a disconnect between my thoughts and how I feel about things compared to what people can actually understand or share in those thoughts.
 
S

Stansmith

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I relish the moments that I get to do this. I'm not necessarily seeing 'worlds', but I feel myself immersed in it. I probably feel my best in those instances.
 
W

WALMART

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I had an ex that just about forbade me from listening to anything I liked around her, which is deep, grungey, dirty stuff. She just didn't get it.

I remember one time her saying she could tell I listened for the music, the little nuances in tone and agression and method, but all she really liked was good lyrics. Listened to a lot of old and texas country.
 

five sounds

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Yep, it's deeply personal and important for me too. There are people out there who get it. Usually in small bits, but I know there are people who feel what you feel when you hear certain sounds and words. Find em and share. I'm sure they're feeling how you are.
 

CuriousFeeling

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I do this constantly when it comes to music. I typically choose music that fits my inner world/mood/idea that I am exploring. There's a unified theme to it, with associated symbolism, be it lyrically or from the musical content. I tend to get characteristics from the music as well as imagery. Some people don't get it, but those with synaesthesia tend to grasp it. I love immersing in that musical experience, especially when I connect to a deep level with the pieces.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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I like music that covers the entire emotional spectrum. Sometimes, if I'm not feeling good, putting something "positive" on isn't going to help (and sometimes it will). Sometimes, it just doesn't affect me at all.

I also feel like it helps me time travel. Different time periods have different moods, and music is a snapshot of that. I'd rather have an authentic picture of a time-period, like say, post-911, rather than something wallpapered over. It seems to me that music is indelibly tied to time it is made in. I'm not sure that music is ever really entirely timeless.
 
N

ndovjtjcaqidthi

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When you share that inner feel world with someone, that's real life son.
 

Galena

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Wait. Wait. There are people who don't listen to music this way?

I relish it and get the discomfort. I know that if I worked to actualize that world in my mind in some way, shape or form, the satisfaction would be more solid than anything a dream can give. But they're tasty and warm...
 

Little_Sticks

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I had an ex that just about forbade me from listening to anything I liked around her, which is deep, grungey, dirty stuff. She just didn't get it.

I remember one time her saying she could tell I listened for the music, the little nuances in tone and agression and method, but all she really liked was good lyrics. Listened to a lot of old and texas country.

That's frustrating. Lyrics convey something different, some form of communication that ideally would enhance music and not become the center-piece. I guess a lot of people don't feel the same way. Your ex sounded awful for you.

I do this constantly when it comes to music. I typically choose music that fits my inner world/mood/idea that I am exploring. There's a unified theme to it, with associated symbolism, be it lyrically or from the musical content. I tend to get characteristics from the music as well as imagery. Some people don't get it, but those with synaesthesia tend to grasp it. I love immersing in that musical experience, especially when I connect to a deep level with the pieces.

Synaesthesia makes sense. I kind of wonder if those that don't feel much aren't able to see much to begin with.

Wait. Wait. There are people who don't listen to music this way?

Oh yes. Listen to pop and all the other mainstream genres and you might realize it seems music is generally a form of communication or a motivation for socializing rather than an emotional art form. But it's a drag when people don't have much of a deep connection to the music; I've tried to get people interested in deeper themes, but it doesn't seem to work. It's even more unnerving when they wonder why anyone would want to do that or even why they would/should, as if people that do are very strange.
 

Galena

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That's frustrating. Lyrics convey something different, some form of communication that ideally would enhance music and not become the center-piece. I guess a lot of people don't feel the same way. Your ex sounded awful for you.
Shutting out my music would be the rejection of something core. I'd need to further information to see a person who did as incompatible with me.

Oh yes. Listen to pop and all the other mainstream genres and you might realize it seems music is generally a form of communication or a motivation for socializing rather than an emotional art form. But it's a drag when people don't have much of a deep connection to the music; I've tried to get people interested in deeper themes, but it doesn't seem to work. It's even more unnerving when they wonder why anyone would want to do that or even why they would/should, as if people that do are very strange.
Was being a little tongue in cheek, but the choice not to take that emotional expedition with music is just that alien. Isn't that what music was made for in the first place? Or so it looks from here. Because my experiences and choices of it are so personal, I'm uncomfortable talking to people about what I listen to any more than I talk about my art or romantic feelings or other exposing and private things. That is almost never, and as a result I truly am innocent to how most people hear music. I'll love mine my way over here, and you guys do your thing over there.
 

Little_Sticks

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Was being a little tongue in cheek, but the choice not to take that emotional expedition with music is just that alien. Isn't that what music was made for in the first place?

I would like to think so.

Or so it looks from here. Because my experiences and choices of it are so personal, I'm uncomfortable talking to people about what I listen to any more than I talk about my art or romantic feelings or other exposing and private things. That is almost never, and as a result I truly am innocent to how most people hear music. I'll love mine my way over here, and you guys do your thing over there.

Oh, I see, so you have the same problem I do. Kinda sucks...but maybe it doesn't matter...just what it is, I guess.
 

pinkgraffiti

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When you share that inner feel world with someone, that's real life son.

are you sure you're not an INFP?

(to OP, yeah i agree with you. also with nicolita)
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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Oh yes. Listen to pop and all the other mainstream genres and you might realize it seems music is generally a form of communication or a motivation for socializing rather than an emotional art form. But it's a drag when people don't have much of a deep connection to the music; I've tried to get people interested in deeper themes, but it doesn't seem to work. It's even more unnerving when they wonder why anyone would want to do that or even why they would/should, as if people that do are very strange.

What kinds of deeper themes?
 

Little_Sticks

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What kinds of deeper themes?

Emotional nuances. Some music could evoke a feeling of flying through the air, an exhilaration. Others could put one at ease and feel an intimacy with nature or remind them of some kind of romantic feelings they shared with somebody else. There's music that can make people dream about inanimate objects becoming animate, like lights dancing around and talking. You can have music that orchestrates the atmosphere of a battle, fight, some type of human conflict and wades through it masterfully, allowing you to create your own understanding/world of what you hear. There's music for the darker sides of humanity, stuff that helps bring out the more brutal and bare emotions and an appreciation of them. There's music for the different types of emotional downs people can have, reflecting different philosophical feelings of despair, hopelessness, etc. They can reflect different types of loneliness. Some music can vibrate an ethereal atmosphere that it's hard not to feel an emotional paradise.

It's really anything; it's the fact that people seem to want something that simply causes them to feel good that excludes them from sharing in on what I and others can feel/see/understand. I suppose that's the easiest thing to want; but then again most people don't appreciate what they would consider to be "negative" emotions the way I seem to. People complain sometimes that people affect one another with their moods and emotions, but I would feel happier to know that the negative emotion I feel from someone else is genuine than to wonder what's wrong and not be able to do anything about it. For some reason, it bothers me much more when someone else suffers over myself, but a lot less, if I am the one suffering; it frightens me when I realize I can't contain some horrors from other people. I recently read The Collector and I've never been afraid of psychological horror before; but knowing that another person other than myself could be stripped of all their emotions and reduced to a pet puppet for someone else gives me incredible anxiety if I think too much about it. But I don't care about gore or people dying horribly and such, that stuff can make me laugh at times. It's very strange.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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Interesting. I do find that getting to that imaginative space for me is not my primary attraction to music. Usually, that only happens when I'm really able to relax my mind and let myself into a less conscious state. That doesn't happen often.

What comes before that is a moment when that music is the only thing in the world. Total engagement.

It's really anything; it's the fact that people seem to want something that simply causes them to feel good that excludes them from sharing in on what I and others can feel/see/understand. I suppose that's the easiest thing to want; but then again most people don't appreciate what they would consider to be "negative" emotions the way I seem to.

I consider negative emotions to be important, and I don't think someone does much good by ignoring/supressing them. They should be acknowledged, at least.

For some reason, it bothers me much more when someone else suffers over myself, but a lot less, if I am the one suffering; it frightens me when I realize I can't contain some horrors from other people.

This doesn't effect me that much. I'm insensitive like that, I suppose. What bothers me more is seeing huge systemic problems that I feel like I cannot do anything about, like homelessness. And I'm not always proud of the way I deal with my powerlessness, either. But I'm not as sensitive to the issues facing individuals around me, regrettably.
 

Mole

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Neurology tells us that music lights up more of our brain than anything else.

And in particular music lights up far more of our brain than print.

This is because print privileges only one small part of our brain, the visual cortex, while music lights up our brain like a christmas tree.

We might have thought that, just as print lights up our visual cortex, so music would only light up our acoustic cortex, but no, music is profligate with our brain and brings all our neurons to life.

Of of course, bringing all our neurons to life, music brings all our senses to life.

And while print specialises in one sense, the visual sense, music democratises the senses.
 

Such Irony

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This might be related to introversion specifically, but I've always had a problem when it comes to music. I listen to music that fits my different moods and allows me to trance myself into different internal worlds full of, well ... passion. I've tried to share this with other people, but when I do, they usually don't understand or see what I do and will get nothing out of it.

And maybe this is enneagram 4 related, but does anyone else have this problem and if so, what do you do about it? Or what do you do that makes you feel better about it? Because it kind of frustrates me sometimes; I feel like there is too huge a disconnect between my thoughts and how I feel about things compared to what people can actually understand or share in those thoughts.

Same here. I can intense mental and emotional reactions to certain pieces of music and the mental landscapes I get from them are so individual and idiosyncratic that its very difficult if not impossible to articulate what I'm experiencing and expect others to experience it the way I do. That's why music listening for me is best as a solitary activity. Because my reaction is so individual and unique.
 

Rail Tracer

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I do the internal worlds thing a lot. I think the problem is that it's personable. I get different images and feelings than other people do. It is probably the reason why people speak more in generic terms because generic terms are the easiest to understand.

Examples of what I am listening right now...

Take this piece for an example. The title of the piece talks about love, and the people commenting on it (on a different video) talks about love. But when I listen to it, I get something completely different from love.

For this piece, I get a calm, yet rainy day.

For this one I get some image of swirling things (very different from the feeling I get from the instrumental.) They move around gracefully..... Hahahaha, this one is hard to describe. Let's just say it's pretty.

But... there are times I want to listen to music just because.
 

Little_Sticks

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This doesn't effect me that much. I'm insensitive like that, I suppose. What bothers me more is seeing huge systemic problems that I feel like I cannot do anything about, like homelessness. And I'm not always proud of the way I deal with my powerlessness, either. But I'm not as sensitive to the issues facing individuals around me, regrettably.

Cool, so at least you know yourself then. It's taken me a while to realize most people don't feel the same way I do about most things.

Neurology tells us that music lights up more of our brain than anything else.

And in particular music lights up far more of our brain than print.

This is because print privileges only one small part of our brain, the visual cortex, while music lights up our brain like a christmas tree.

We might have thought that, just as print lights up our visual cortex, so music would only light up our acoustic cortex, but no, music is profligate with our brain and brings all our neurons to life.

Of of course, bringing all our neurons to life, music brings all our senses to life.

And while print specialises in one sense, the visual sense, music democratises the senses.

You sound like Victor.
...Mole & Badger, Ratty and Toad...lol, nice name change.

But... there are times I want to listen to music just because.

lol, I didn't mean to make it sound like that wasn't okay, just that it seems that's all some people do.
 
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