My house can be a boisterous, busy place. I have a teenager, a husband, a dog, and a cat here with me all the time. It means that carving out time to write when no one needs me is damn near impossible. Someone is always walking through and asking me questions or begging for a walk, or sitting on my keyboard.

A lot of my writer friends make playlists to listen to while writing. It helps to block out the other goings-on in the house. I thought that was a marvelous idea. I have several playlists I like already. So I gamely gave it a try with disastrous results. I either ended up singing along and completely forgot what I was going to write, or I wrote the song’s lyrics that were playing.

My husband suggested wearing noise-canceling earphones. I tried the big ones, but they were heavy and uncomfortable to wear for any length of time, and I ended up yelping every time someone touched me to get my attention. It was stressful for the cat in particular and me. Eddie hates sudden noises. I tried earbuds, but they give me a jaw ache after a while. Odd, I know, but true. I also realized that because I can hear everything, I know precisely what’s going on in my home at all times. I can yell the answer to a question without ever leaving my desk and thus solve a situation before it gets out of control.

Where are my socks? In the dryer. Who ate the last chocolate chip cookie? There are more in the pantry.

In the end, I decided as annoying as my people/pets can be, it is much better to hear them coming and be prepared for the intrusion than being startled out of my skin. I can tune out the background noises of my home far better than music, and I don’t have an urge to sing along to it. It is, in essence, the music of my life.