I interviewed a white male in his 30s about why he is constantly plugged into his phone and he tells me bacause of his music is his relief for stress..

Introduction

A white male in his thirties named Michael. Tall about 6 feet 1 inch. Wearing a blue black and grey stripped shirt and black jeans and a blue winter jacket. He has a oval shaped head with greenish orange eyes. He has an impecable smile its white straight and he shows it off almost the entire interview. When I first approched him he was smoking a cigarette. with big black sunglasses on and red headphones in. I asked him to take off his sunglasses and headphones so he did.

Everyday life

I first asked Michael why he is always plugged into his cell phone. He replied “for many reason’s Liz. Stress and coping skills” I didnt understand at first so I quickly changed the subject to get other information. I felt if I got more information I wouldn’t have to pry my answers out of  him and it would explane its self. I asked what a typical day was like for michael and he said ” Well you know I changed my job and I work for a produce company now and I love it expecally because i can listen to my music all day at work. You know hoe much i Love my music right?” which lead me to asking asking Micheal why does he love his music so much? his response is ” Because it gets me away from my everyday problems and makes me forget what stress i am under everyday.” His smile began to vanish so I changed the subject back to what his everyday rutine is like. he responds with ” you know eat work sleep” I asked him to be more specific he says” i wake up everyday and pray sometimes while I use the bathroom sometimes while I take a shower but first I always pray. Then I either take my insinlin or shower then I eat breakfast. I then get dressed and listen to my music while I get dressed and then I walk to work. I walk a mile and a half to work go to work and punch in and then do my work and have my lunch break and then I work some more and clock out and walk home. I then shower again and take a nap. then get up and eat dinner then watch some TV and go to bed and repeat it everyday.” I then asked do you listen to your music all day everyday? he said “yes of course it relieves my stress”.

Whats the stressor

I continue to question Michael with simple questions and try and feel out what his stress is caused from but hes holding back alot. I then bluntly ask what is it that causes your stress that makes you want to tune out the world all day ? ” my family needs things and I need to provide them and thats alot of stress to deal with and without my music I feel I wouldn’t be doing my very best everyday to be able to provide for my family. Its alot for me to handle knowing people depend on me and if i fail they go without and I will not fail so this is one way I have been able to do my best for my family and so I stick with it and it makes me feel like im underless pressure that way I can do my best for them to have whatever they want and need.” I could see that thats not the only reason but I just simple asked anything else you would like to tell me? he replies ” well ….no.yeah…i dont know.. then he says well it mean alot to me to have a good job and keeps me away from toxic people.” i asked whos toxic? ” my mom” he says ” she’s just not very encouraging and always tells me I cant do it and wont do much in life and I want so much more for me and my family so I have to stay away from her and since I have I have been so much better of a husband and father to my family and I feel better about myself. Shes never been a good influence thats my my grandparents raised me. everyday I can hear her words in the back of my mind and thats mainly why I tune out of the world and listen to music that gives me strenght and positive reinforcement.”  I tell him thats one of the saddest things ive herd and he didn’t need to listen to her and that hes doing a wonderful job.

What does your future look like?

I asked Michael what his future looks like? He says ” As long as i stay positive my path looks bright for me and my family. I promised my wife I would not speak to my mother because of the negative affect she leaves on me and because I want so much for my family that its not gonna be easy but it will be worth it.” I told Mike thats a great way to  look at life and it is very ture.

What does music do to your soul that makes you Different?

I ask Mike what music does to his soul that makes him different then before when he wasn’t tuned into his music? Mike says ” Music is what soothes me all around my anxiety goes away about not being good enough and my moms voice goes away so I can be something in life and allow my daughters to be whatever they want to be. I also feel better about myself because I listen to positive music like Rascle Flatts and I feel better about myself and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and why I do what I do everyday is for more than just me its for my babies too.”

Stressors and music thearpy

I find that music has helped my life with coping with anxiety and coping with stress in my life I may not tune out of the world as much but I now see that other people have more stress then me and they cope differently and you cant just assume why someone listens to music all the time because everyone has a different story behind them.