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April 16, 2014
How alone are you feeling? Sherry Turkle has some answers to why.
June 8, 2014
Last week my son bought a record player. Do you remember those?
Apparently they never really went away and are making a resurgence. We also each bought a few albums. Upon coming home we played some ABBA and Supertramp, both singing along to the familiar favorites. We had a great time together as we enjoyed the amazing sound and the memories.
The next morning I was up before him and I chose to put on that Supertramp album again. This time I made a decision on how I would choose to listen. I sat in the middle of the speakers and just listened. I didn’t read a book or putz around the house, I just sat there and let the sound fill me.
Something wonderful happened.
THE POWER IN LISTENING
The sound filled me, it was deeper and richer than what I listen to on my computer or my cell phone with my head phones. I felt like I was there in the recording studio. The words began to move me, take me back in time. I could hear the tick of a scratch on the old LP and it made me smile. I realized that it had been years since I had done this, simply sat down and did nothing but choose to listen to music, let it affect me. It was wonderful.
Recently I started going for my walks without my head phones in. I realized that though I was walking through this beautiful park I wasn’t really “there”, I wasn’t present, because I was “plugged in.” I wasn’t consciously choosing how to listen. So now sometimes I don’t listen to music, I simply walk. I look up at the birds or squirrels in the trees, I say hello to people or I stop to hear the water running through the pond in the park. I become more present.
Both of these experiences reminded me of the value of listening and how we can all hone that skill even more than we have already. In taking the time out to really listen it forces us to become present. And if we are going to improve our relationships in life and really connect with people, be better communicators, isn’t that what it’s all about? I’m off to put on that Supertramp album again.
