I have had the tendency always to stick to music I am familar with, but of late even more so. I see it as a problem that is a symptom of a more general approach to life, so I have been determined to attend to it. What I have done is make a point when buying music to buy something I feel fairly assured I will like with the "penalty" of buying music that I am not the least bit familar with. It is a discipline, and I have to say I have stumbled across some music that I have really never come to understand and do not particulary care for. Less often I have come across a recording that totally suprised me and eventually became a favorite. The pay off here is that I would seek out other music that would fall into the same catagory and a whole new area of interest and involvement as developed as a result. Oddly enough, it has been true that the music I am quick to disregard upon first listen is assurdly the music I will most love after an initial exercise of repeated play.On the other hand,the music I have absolutely loved initially will usually come to bore me after the newness has worn off. I am not sure why this works this way, only that it has and does. as well, I have learned not to rid myself of music I have been unimpressed with initially because it seems I will come around to it again when the occasion arrives that I do. I believe it all has to do with timing- another kind of synergy where my mind and heart and events in my life have intersected and given that recording some meaning-perhaps revealed some meaning that had been previously absent. The result is I have a collection based on appeal rather than merit. It has not made for an impressive list of recordings, but what little I have has made me very happy overall. I admitt I have had to move from the desire to be more open minded to the actual effort of being open minded.It has been slow going, but I am pleased to say I do actually manage it and has had what I consider a positive effect on my general attitude and approach towards other areas of my life.
