Music as I commute, Part 1

Nothing quite alleviates the monotony and boredom of commuting than listening to some music.  When you spend several hours each day on the train, packed in like sardines with other bleary eyed and irritable travellers it is a god-send to be able to plug in to your Ipod, press play on the latest album in your collection and watch the world drift by the windows as you speed to or from your place of work.

I guess it can be isolating, but when no-one is talking at that time of day and many fellow commuters are trying to catch up on sleep, you may as well slip into a world of your own choosing to make the time pass and set yourself up for the day to come.  Alternatively you can use it to wind down from the stresses of the day on a journey home.  A certain social element may be lost, as my dad has told me about the times he used to commute and the friendships he struck up with the people around him that he saw everyday.  He may have had a drink with them from the buffet cart, or caught up on the days events before reaching his stop, but this almost never happens these days.  The most I do is nod at people I see each day, take out my headphones long enough to say good morning/evening and comment on the weather and then slip the headphones back on and carry on as before.  Maybe times have changed, or I’m just a unsociable so and so!

I also listen to music as I walk to the train station and it helps me get into my own head space as I cope with the hustle and bustle of urban commuting.  I am always extra vigilant when I cross the roads and am conscious of the extra dangers that having your sense of hearing engaged with something other than your environment brings.  I am guessing it wouldn’t be wise for someone moving or working around  heavy machinery to listen to music, or anyone else who has to be fully aware of his or her surroundings, but for me, as I walk the streets to work, the benefits easily outweigh the minor risks.

I’m not the only one who listens to music whilst commuting these days and whereas ten or fifteen years ago I was one of the few people who had on a set of headphones, nowadays I am just one of many.  There are always one or two people who insist on having their music up way too loud (or play their music for all to hear on ridiculous, tinny mobile phone speakers), but generally everyone is considerate and those annoying commuting companions are few and far between.

When I am having an ‘off day’ and have got out of bed on the wrong side it is amazing what half an hour of carefully chosen music will do for me.  Something upbeat and positive will soon knock the cobwebs and grey clouds out of my mind and help me focus myself for the tasks ahead.

It also makes a wonderful accompaniment to winter or autumn travel too and there is something almost magical about speeding through heavy fog, where you can’t see anything a metre beyond the train window and be listening to something equally as brooding or atmospheric. 

This is just another time when music helps me get through the day and when you spend as much time commuting as I do, then you may as well make full use of this prime listening time.  It is a time to reflect, dream and plan for my future and music is a wonderful soundtrack to the mental images I create for myself.