if i had to estimate, i’d say that i spend approximately 50% of my day with my airpods in.
here’s how my daily routine usually goes:
wake up, put in my airpods, and listen to music/a podcast while i get ready
walk to class/walk while listening to music through my airpods
class/work
study in-between classes with my airpods in (for the automatic noise cancellation + to simultaneously play white noise)
eat
walk back to my apartment while listening to music through my airpods
unwind (usually with my airpods in, listening to/watching something)
sleep
i never realized just how much i use my airpods on the regular. i don’t really know why i’m surprised—i’ve been an avid airpods user for years, and i can probably count on my fingers the number of days in those years where i’ve gone without popping an airpod into my ear at least once. i’m on my second pair now, and the amount of times i open the lid or charge it weekly is so unbelievable that i wouldn’t be surprised if the constant movement soon results in a need for another replacement.
it’s gotten to the point where ear pain from prolonged airpods usage is a regular occurrence for me. between studying with noise cancellation, doomscrolling on tiktok, doing my makeup while listening to emma chamberlain’s podcast, blasting music before bed, and calling a friend while walking around campus, my airpods are the common denominator; especially as an avid music lover in general, blocking out the rest of the world and focusing on the sole audio (or lack thereof) infiltrating my eardrums has become the underlying structure of how i cruise through my days.
lately, however, i’ve began to realize just how much my airpods have shut me off from the rest of the world. i’ve especially just been in a more sentimental mood with the end of the school semester approaching so quickly; the other night, i was thinking about how much i’m going to miss my on-campus apartment room and being right next to the bustling city highway all night long before i realized that i couldn’t hear the sounds of the highway outside—i had my airpods in!
and so i took them out, and i savored the honks and the noise of the traffic outside, and i went to bed with a slight sour taste in my mouth.
maybe my airpods have crossed the line from focus-inducing tools to blockades that’ve subconsciously—and literally—drowned out the sounds of the real world. when i reflect back now and think about the times where i accidentally walked past a friend because i didn’t hear them through my airpods or try to remember the last time i walked to class without anything in my ears but the natural chirps of birds flying by (i can’t recall), a feeling of lamentation blossoms in my chest for the sounds i realize i’ve missed.
it’s addicting, the convenience of airpods paired with the unavoidable urge to fill silence with sound and drown out thoughts. but i feel like a lobotomy patient when i think back and realize that i’ve literally cruised through all of my days like an npc, with sound blasting into my ears, suffocating actual thoughts of substance from forming because i’d rather robotically stem the flow of the present instead of inhale it.
i don’t want to be shut away from the outside world anymore. my airpods cut out distractions, but i miss those bird sounds! i can just let that airpod audio wash over me, and suddenly three hours have passed—which is a nice and needed phenomenon at times, but not in the heavy abundance that i’ve employed it.
i feel like i haven’t been present in a long time. for once, i want to listen to nothing; i want to overcome that itch to populate silence with mechanical noise and finally begin living in the present.
i’ll be keeping my airpods in their case more often. i don’t want to look back on my college days and barely remember my true college experience because i blocked it all out—i want to remember all the small details and sensory attributes of this time of my life: the sounds of the highway traffic outside my apartment window, the country music that blasts from the frat houses in the evenings, the rustle of the trees and the sounds of the birds around campus, the clack of keyboards and murmurs in the library, and conversations with friends i pass on the street that occur because i choose to be present instead of droning away with a nameless pop song looping in my ears for the nth time in a row.
such a great reminder to stay present!