Constant Headphone Use Was Numbing My Mind

Like everyone else, I too became as attached to my Airpods as I was to my phone. At peak distraction post-pandemic, my headphones were as essential to my days as hard-soled shoes: I wouldn’t leave my apartment without them on. I latched on to all the new podcasts that caught my attention, delighted by the endless niches tailored to my interests, and allowed streaming algorithms to sway me towards curated playlists and suggested listening. An eclectic music taste started to find me, as did the music commentaries, the cultural interviews, and the pairs of funny, chatty women who felt like my own friends keeping me company. I ditched my earlier judgment that listening to audiobooks didn’t count as reading, because the reality was too hard to deny: there simply wasn’t enough time to do it all. The downside of it all? I started to erase the quiet moments once reserved for deep thinking and reflection, and closed myself off from the social interactions, however miniscule, that so often provided a sense of community. I siloed myself in a bubble that felt expansive when really it was numbing, and ultimately, I stopped being present.