Bose and Me

I'd been thinking--nay--dreaming of the day that I could invest in a nice set of headphones. And you know what they say: when you have a dream, tell anyone and everyone and someone will help you realize that dream.

OK, so that was a dramatic way of saying that I mentioned my lowly, earthly desire to my father and he happened to have a sweet, sweet pair of headphones that he so generously decided to bequeath to me. Presently, not posthumously. 

Anyway, these are my first quality set. The ear-gasmic experience that I get every time I use them are inspirational, and thus truly blog-worthy.

I've recently started going to bed a half hour early to ensure at least 30 minutes of this sensual experience before falling asleep. My favorite songs to listen to so far are sultry, womanly voices set to music with a rich, full bass. These are the sounds that seduce me first. Soft, echoey strums of guitar or tinkling of ivory keys top off the experience like a loving caress. As I listen, I feel my heartbeat quicken and my breath change with the song--shallow, then deep and even, shallow again. My hands move with the music, following its flow, but I'm so lost in trance that I hardly take notice of what my hands are doing or if what they're doing makes sense. When I really get lost in the music, I can't contain my pleasure: I have to give a little "mmmm.." in agreement with the singer. The experience is slow and enduring rather than sudden, too exciting, or short-lived. The passion I feel is the kind that makes you feel like you're going to burst. You feel tears behind your eyes, though you know you're not about to cry. You almost wish that you would cry though, just to make sense of a feeling so strong. You're only hope is that someone shares this feeling with you and that you're not the only one in the world who knows or who has experienced this emotion.

...So cheesy, I know. But trust. This is how good the headphones are. Or maybe this is just another testament to how music affects me. It's amazing to hear real instruments on tracks, especially after having decided earlier that "music just isn't what it used to be" with artists relying on pre-recorded instrument sounds or shameless digital hums, whirs, and pops. Listening to the same music as I do with these new headphones in regular earbuds now seem like trying to listen to a concert through a couple of tin cans and some string. These headphones help me hear the true orchestration of pieces--yes, pieces, because that's what the songs now sound like with the unique timbre of each instrument actually coming from different locations in the spaces of my brain. 

One last cheesy line: if in my life, I ever go deaf, just take a pair of good headphones and have them surgically plugged into my heart, please. I think I'm naturally wired somewhat in that way anyway.