Blog1 min read
Music for the room you're packing up
You stop every few minutes to look at something. The music has to handle the stops, the restarts, and the dust.
Packing up a room you've lived in is a slow and surprisingly emotional task. You can't do it in one stretch; you stop every few minutes to look at something. The music has to handle the stops and the restarts and the dust.
Lo-fi mostly works, but the brief is closer to a kitchen than to a desk. The music has to survive boxes opening and closing, you talking to yourself, the occasional pause to read a letter you forgot you had. Anything precious will feel wrong. Anything aggressive will rush you.
What I avoid is music tied to the room you're leaving. The temptation to play albums that were on a lot in this place is real, but it makes the packing slower and the room harder to leave. Save those for the first week in the next place. They'll do better work there.
Eventually the room is empty and you're sweeping. The music for that hour is different — closer to wellness, quieter, almost ceremonial. But for the packing itself, lo-fi at moderate volume, with the door open.