I love music. Putting on some album and jamming, or dancing around my room, especially with one of my girls, is a primal joy. But not when writing.

Maybe it’s the lyrics. There was a great suggestion I saw once that said to use the music for video games for studying. That music is meant to increase focus. I tried that for a bit.

But there is one thing that I’ve found actually useful. It’s a youtube channel called “ChilledCow”, and it’s particularly the video called “Lofi hip hop radio”. There’s a loop of an anime girl on the video area, writing out long hand some notebook. Every once in a while, she looks up, out the window, over her cat on the windowpane, and into the city. Then, back to work.

She’s my sister in the struggle. Always vigilant, always writing. Getting that work done. She and the music are meditative in their repetition. I once tried to listen to the same music on their Spotify playlist, but it wasn’t the same. Maybe it’s the difference between playing a playlist from someone vs. listening to the radio. The mystique of the radio always wins. And seeing her get back to work, I am reminded, I need to get back to work. Or as Mr. Bowie said,