Zen, Now

 I have ADHD, so any moment of peace I can get is a treasure. My head is consistently a swarm of uncontrollable thoughts pestering me at every available moment. I'm 22 years old now though, so I've been living with this for quite some time now and have found some pretty good ways to work with my disability, and music is often at the core of it. I spend my work days listening to music that most would likely consider very abrasive or even annoying including the likes of "Death Grips" and "100 Gecs." I spend my evenings mostly playing video games with friends listening to lots of eccentric, high energy pop artists such as "Charli XCX" and "Dorian Electra." I often spend my nights listening to very experimental and often bizarre rock groups such as "The Mars Volta" and "Black County, New Road." I say this all to mean that I listen to a wide variety of music, most of which would be considered the very opposite of relaxing. At first listen, some of the songs on my playlist might seem to be more distracting than relaxing as well. To me however, all the songs on this playlist come together to serve the greater purpose of shipping me off to the most peaceful place imaginable with their sometimes otherworldly ambiance. Much of the music I listen to serves to help drown out the sound coming from within my mind so that I might focus on the world around me during my day. When I want a moment to myself however, the music on this playlist puts me into a beautifully introspective state that manages to shut out both the world around me and the excess noise in my mind so that I can truly look into myself and meditate. Even now as I type this out, the trance like verses of "Dump" makes me feel like I'm being lured away from the reality in front of me into a peaceful world of relaxation. As "Hidden Place" comes on, I feel less like I'm lying on my bed listening and typing and more as though I'm on a continuous adventure in my mind, wandering through a forest into some sort of ethereal Fairy Grove. I wander out of it as "Storm" comes on and I now find myself in some sort of quiet jungle until "Shadow" whisks me away into some other world I've never seen before. "Falling" plays as I feel myself wander deeper through the strange void of my mind until I find myself wandering through a small town's streets as "Rainy Day" plays along. "Beneath the Mask" beckons me to find rest in a small Café as it turns to night and as it plays I feel as though I could rest here forever. "Mic Check" plays with its borderline ASMR inducing samples and I find myself nowhere else but my own room, on my bed in my own body at peace with myself more so than I ever have been. To me, this playlist is a way for me to go on a journey within myself. The songs create an ethereal tapestry that manages to lull me into a peace that shuts out the noise of my usual thoughts, while still stimulating my imagination enough to keep me going on my meditative journey. I know not if others will have the same reaction to the songs I've selected, but I know at the very least they help me direct my focus inward like nothing else can. 

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