My 25 year old niece recently wrote an eloquent piece about how the lack of action on climate change has affected her life. She performed an act of civil disobedience because she feels that no one is listening. I’ve known this young woman since her birth. She’s outspoken, passionate, and courageous and she will have a positive impact on the world. Everyone seems to have an opinion on this issue and hers is just one. Yet, her experience needs to be heard. My generation has failed her and her peers in many ways and we need to hear it.
Can we suspend our opinions for a moment and just say I hear you?
This morning I read an eloquent and moving piece by another 20-something young woman on what it’s like to live with social anxiety. I’ve had some social anxiety all of my life so I could relate to some of her experience. Yet, my experience is not hers. The piece obviously struck a chord, as evidenced by the many supportive comments. I noticed, however, that most of the comments began with the word “I” as in I’ve had a similar experience and this is what happened to me. It’s natural for us to respond to an article by thinking about how it relates to us. That is the very reason the article was so powerful. However, the comments missed what should come first – the listening, the hearing, and the acknowledging.
In my response, I thanked the author for sharing such a moving and vulnerable piece, that helped us all to feel what it’s like to be in her shoes. By focusing on her experience, I get out of myself and realize that probably many others have similar stories. Listening creates empathy.
I think what I enjoy most about listening is that I disappear. ~ Gordon Hempton
We need to listen more. Our sense of hearing is diminished by all of the noise we face each day. Even in my small retirement town, the noise from machines is ever constant. We’ve forgotten what silence sounds like. We rarely hear the sounds of nature.
Enter Emergence
There is a new online magazine I recently discovered called Emergence and it is amazing. Their second issue is on the theme of Wildness, and there are a few articles on listening and it’s relationship to silence, as well as a practical exercise for cultivating our sense of hearing.
One article is by George Prochnik, author of the book, In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise. Not to be confused with the film, In Pursuit of Silence, by Patrick Shen, although Prochnik was interviewed in the film. He says that ”sound perception anchored our predecessors in the world.” So, what are we losing if our sound perception is dulled by noise?
“Silence is not the absence of sound, but rather the absence of noise.” ~ Gordon Hempton
Prochnik makes an argument for sanctuaries of silence in our daily lives. The root of the word sanctuary means a holy place or holy ground; a place where transcendence and immanence meet. For the human today, a sanctuary may be a place where one can immerse themselves in the natural world, absent the noise of daily life. Where one can once again experience the sense of wildness, which has been lost for many.
We would all do well to do everything we can to structure a more balanced, naturally sourced, and varied daily intake of diverse sounds—a healthier sonic pyramid—interlaced with those restorative silences in which the sublime wildness still resides. ~ George Prochnik
Do you have sanctuaries of silence?
Another piece in the magazine is a short film called Sanctuaries of Silence (7:15), which is a beautiful and profound piece by filmmakers Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee. It features acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, as he gathers the sounds of the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park in Washington State, one of the quietest places on earth. Please do watch. It is remarkable.
Finally, the filmmakers offer an exercise in listening that you can do over a day, week, or month. There are 5 parts to it and I plan to do it over the next week. I’ll share my results next week. Why don’t you try it too and let me know what you discover?
Become a Better Listener
Listening can be cultivated and we sure need more of that today. Try pausing and suspending judgments for a moment. Listen first. Hear what the person is saying from their perspective. Tell them that you hear them. Through learning to listen and developing sanctuaries of silence, we’ll not only enhance our own well-being, we might just have better conversations and develop more empathy too.