I've had to learn to quiet the deluge, silence the automatic responses, and listen to the rest. Listen to my body. Listen to my feelings. Listen to the words only along with the rest of me.
I love this subject. Some people are naturally gifted listeners. My sister was one. You could just tell she heard everything you said.
"So, right now, I'm meandering my way through The Listening Path which is all about adding deep listening as a component of the creative life.
She talks about all aspects of listening in this book. For example, listening to the environment, which has me thinking about the city sounds around me that I tune out when I could instead opt to tune in, the media sounds I constantly put in my ears when maybe I could listen to silence ...
And of course she discusses listening to others. Truly listening. Listening with your whole mind-body-spirit and not just "hearing" and responding."
Not a single day goes by where I don't crave (and listen to) some type of music, and it doesn't matter what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes I want to feel more sad when I feel that way, so I will listen to morose but profound stuff by the Beatles, or classical piano by Erik Satie. If I'm pissed, I need some punk rock, thrash, Slayer. If I'm happy, nearly anything will work, but certain songs will amplify that emotion a great deal.
Music is emotional amplification. It is one of my most profound tools. I use it every day.
I remember a friend whose advice when I was in a hard breakup said “whenever my mom was going through that she put on patsy cline”. My breakup music turned out to be other things but it was what clicked for me that music could be used to process emotions in that way.
That's also a very good way to put it: it helps you process the emotion. I have long wondered at how teenagers can make some of the best music the world has ever known. One expects profound thoughts from someone much older, but the reality is that emotional experience has no age limit, and since music is essentially the aural expression of an emotion, it follows that kids can make some amazing music. I need to write about all this soon!
There's something about the brain at that time ... the music we find ourselves attracted to at that age always has a really special place for us even if it's not what we mostly listen to later.
Beautiful words here. For me listening is part of my creative practice. A Creative practice shaped like sand. It is a meandering, ever-changing and necessary part of life 💓
I never considered how my mental health might influence my ability to listen. Sleep, diet, and exercise must be part of the equation as well. It makes sense that listening in a work setting does depend on how well we can manage our life work balance, how much love, friendship, and fun we can manage.
Definitely all of the other factors for a balance life are important. Sleep is one I've often struggled with and that tends to affect me a lot, including, probably, my listening ability.
I love this subject. Some people are naturally gifted listeners. My sister was one. You could just tell she heard everything you said.
"So, right now, I'm meandering my way through The Listening Path which is all about adding deep listening as a component of the creative life.
She talks about all aspects of listening in this book. For example, listening to the environment, which has me thinking about the city sounds around me that I tune out when I could instead opt to tune in, the media sounds I constantly put in my ears when maybe I could listen to silence ...
And of course she discusses listening to others. Truly listening. Listening with your whole mind-body-spirit and not just "hearing" and responding."
I love that description of your sister's listening.
Thank you Kathryn. Losing her tragically was the worst day of my life. But I know she's here. Still listening.
Not a single day goes by where I don't crave (and listen to) some type of music, and it doesn't matter what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes I want to feel more sad when I feel that way, so I will listen to morose but profound stuff by the Beatles, or classical piano by Erik Satie. If I'm pissed, I need some punk rock, thrash, Slayer. If I'm happy, nearly anything will work, but certain songs will amplify that emotion a great deal.
Music is emotional amplification. It is one of my most profound tools. I use it every day.
Music is emotional amplification. Love that.
I remember a friend whose advice when I was in a hard breakup said “whenever my mom was going through that she put on patsy cline”. My breakup music turned out to be other things but it was what clicked for me that music could be used to process emotions in that way.
That's also a very good way to put it: it helps you process the emotion. I have long wondered at how teenagers can make some of the best music the world has ever known. One expects profound thoughts from someone much older, but the reality is that emotional experience has no age limit, and since music is essentially the aural expression of an emotion, it follows that kids can make some amazing music. I need to write about all this soon!
There's something about the brain at that time ... the music we find ourselves attracted to at that age always has a really special place for us even if it's not what we mostly listen to later.
Beautiful words here. For me listening is part of my creative practice. A Creative practice shaped like sand. It is a meandering, ever-changing and necessary part of life 💓
I never considered how my mental health might influence my ability to listen. Sleep, diet, and exercise must be part of the equation as well. It makes sense that listening in a work setting does depend on how well we can manage our life work balance, how much love, friendship, and fun we can manage.
Definitely all of the other factors for a balance life are important. Sleep is one I've often struggled with and that tends to affect me a lot, including, probably, my listening ability.