Monday, June 1, 2009

listen

today i am working in my studio...finally! 
after a too long hiatus, i am back into this space again. 
i am doing a lot of thinking, reading and writing. 
some studio days are just like that, 
where you have to do thinking before you do making.
i ran into the following quote, and it made me think of how much talking we do. 
i don't know about you, but i open my mouth far too often;
we need to do more listening. 
and it made me think of my daughter, as she learns how to listen to the world.
on a daily basis i marvel 
that little m can turn to a noise -
to my voice, to the car driving down our street, 
to the birds singing in the trees above her,
to the words in a picture book.

words for my daughter, from walt whitman:

"now i will do nothing but listen.
i hear all sounds running together,
combined, fused, or following, 
sounds of the city,
and
sounds out of the city - 
sounds of the day and the night."

it is a gift to be able to hear.
it is a gift to be able to listen.

3 comments:

  1. what a fitting quote. thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks for the Whitman quotation; it's good to be reminded of the gift of sound--and how exciting to think of that world of experience opening up for little M through means of her implants.

    sending warm thoughts your way!

    r

    ReplyDelete
  3. lovely post, susannah. listening - really listening - is such a beautiful gift. the layers of sound i get to experience through viv's ears is amazing. so happy knowing m is experiencing that - it's breathtaking, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete

Hi friends! This is where you talk back to me. :) Easy peasy: write your comment, then scroll down where it says "comment as" to identify yourself (if you want to just write your name click Name/URL or just click anonymous. xoxoxoxo