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Are We Different?

All my life I have been more attuned to sensory experiences than my friends, family, or colleagues. I started to notice this in high school when I would go on and on about how great a particular passage sounded while playing in bands, I would rave about a meal that I ate, the smells of pleasant or unpleasant things, or a particularly good looking passage in a movie or piece of art.  

This question arose for me last week when talking to a friend and relating that I frequently get chills and goosebumps listening to music (live or in my living room). He looked at me as if he had no idea what I was talking about, and thought I was nuts. I thought that happened to everyone!! Since then I have been conducting an informal survey of folks I know about exactly that question. Again, most folks have no experience of this and think I'm bit off. So I wonder: Are we different? Is it something in our biology that lands us in the realm of audio-obsession, constantly looking for the perfect sound stage in our living rooms, and criticizing badly engineered recordings, or scoffing at the sound designers for poorly mixed live shows?

What is it that separates the music enthusiast/lover from the obsessed, ever-searching-never-satisfied, gear-heads which many of us are? 

Share your thoughts (and also do you get chills and goosebumps listening to Beethoven/Charlie Parker/The Stones?)
birdfan

Showing 1 response by ronrags

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ronrags
182 posts
 
Ben,

I know where you are coming from. I too have been attuned to many things since a child including sounds, smells and especially a person's state of mind. I would sense their emotions when speaking on the phone or seeing their slightest facial expressions even at a distance. They would wonder how I knew something was wrong or different. I enjoy looking at nature or great architecture while others are oblivious.

I believe the word is sensitivity. Some have more than others especially when it comes to music and the arts. That's why we get goosebumps or get emotional but others don't. I'm also wondering if it has to do with genetics. I remember seeing the Sound of Music movie when it first played in Manhattan and watching my mom getting all emotional during the opening scene. She thought she was on top of that mountain. She said her grandfather would pretend he was conducting an orchestra and get emotional when listening to the radio back in the 30s. I found myself doing the same thing when I listen to classical music and neither of us have any formal musical training.  

So are we different, yes. Strange, maybe.............
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