One of my favorite quotes about music is by the poet W. H. Auden. He said, “Music is the best means we have of digesting time.” I like his use of the word “digesting.” The idea of life passing through us, like a plate of beans and rice or a warm slice of cherry pie is a fun idea to play with. Every experience we have nourishes us and becomes a part of our story.

We have all grown to consider how the food that we eat affects us. The popular use of the word “Hangry” to describe the interconnectedness of hunger and anger is just one example. But we tend not to focus so much on how the things we watch and listen to can drive our moods.

Music, in its purest form, is very helpful in taking us out of the thinking mind and more into the world of feelings. From the thunderous pounding of a big bass drum to the soft flowing waves of distant strings, music can provide us a space to exercise our full range of emotions without necessarily attaching them to the endless spiral of thoughts going on inside our heads.

Try giving yourself a regular music break at various times throughout the week and see if you can just listen to the sounds without attaching any personal experiences or judgements to them. Just let the sounds pass through you as though your ears were microphones just picking up a signal.

See if you can notice where you are feeling the music in the body. When we learn to neutrally observe our feelings we develop the space to make better decisions about our lives. Music can be a tool for developing that wisdom.

Below are some songs that have resonated with me in the past month. I hope they bring more joy to your life. Thanks for listening, MMM

This month’s artists are: Yasuaki Shimizu, Palehound, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Isobel Campbell, Sweeping Promises, Marc Urselli’s SteppenDoom, The Breeders, Fathom Sharif, Steel Tipped Dove, Taylor Dupree, Queens of the Stone Age, Blur, Cola, Crosslegged, Dougie Poole, Kikagaku Mayo, Sumerian’s

(Subscribe to get a new playlist every 1st Monday of the month. Click on my user link or search: Major Matt’s 1st Monday on Spotify to cruise past playlists and discover more music.)