How Do You Decorate Time?

Ansley Dauenhauer
18 hours ago
2 min read

A Quote, a Question, and a Quirk

Ansley Dauenhauer theloftyquill.com August 31, 2026

A Borrowed Voice

Art is how we decorate space;

music is how we decorate time.

Anonymous

A Curious Inquiry

What kind of music do you listen to? Does music ever change your frame of mind?

To prime your pump:

Do you turn on music when you are exercising, cooking, or on a long car ride?

What kind(s) of music do you enjoy? Do certain genres belong to certain activities?

Do you ever work in just quiet?

A Small Moment

I did not grow up listening to music. I don’t know why; we just didn’t. So, it’s not automatic for me to turn music on when I’m doing other things. Sometimes I do, but it’s a pretty intentional move. My kids are the opposite. They automatically have music going no matter what they are doing. I used to worry the noise would keep them from concentrating from the task at hand, but it was never a problem so I stopped fretting over it.

The other day I was having a bit of a down day. Nothing in particular, I just wasn’t feeling motivated to do much of anything. When I examined the feeling, I realized that just recognizing my blah-ness was bumming me out as much as the actual feeling. So I turned on Mamma Mia and sang to ABBA. Pretty soon, the cats and I were dancing around the family room, and my whole mood changed. Music really does have that power.

I love songs that tell a story— the first music I remember listening to with real intention was 90s country as I drove from south Georgia to my then boyfriend’s (now husband’s) apartment in north Georgia. As the low country rolled into the hills of middle Georgia and beyond, I’d croon the ambience so eloquently captured by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Garth Brooks, and plenty of others.

Thinking back to that time and remembering how happy ABBA made me the other night might be my nudge to turn the music up again on the regular!