[mike-cardwell]

I enjoy music as much as I enjoy looking at a nice painting. It's good, but it's not important to me at all, and I wouldn't miss it for a second if I became unable to enjoy it.

I just thought I'd chuck that in there, because everyone always seems to talk about how important music is to them, and you never hear anyone saying the contrary.

[bradleysmith]

my father was like that. He could take it or leave it, but it certainly wasn't important to him. That comes from both discussion and observation.

I drift in and out of having it be truly meaningful to me, but I would certainly miss it if I could not have it.

Explained simply, music is like color or taste but for the social and some technical portions of the brain. It is both technically thought provoking and emotionally compelling. That is interesting to me, if not important.

[mercer]

The comparison to color and taste describe what music is to me.

Most of the time I don't care too much about what I eat, as long as it's decently tasty. I rarely cook, and often consider eating a bit of a nuisance.

Most of the time I don't go out to see a sunset or notice the colors around me. I don't even bother walking around in the big forest right next to my house. In fact, I sometimes find it a nuisance to leave the house to do what I need to do.

And yet, when I do occasionally feel like eating something I really like, I bother to cook and savor it. And sometimes I get up extra early to ride my bike to the nearby lake and watch the sunrise.

Music's the same for me. I usually put on music that is easy listening while I work, or music that is by now so familiar to me that I know every little detail. Or I go without music an entire day.

But then sometimes I put on something meaningful, and I can spent a decent chunk of time just listening and letting my thoughts drift away.